r 


TUE   LATE   JAMES   FISK,   JH. 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


COL.  JAMES  FISK,  Jr., 


A  FULL  AND  mPARTL\L  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  IIEMARKABLE  CAREER  OF  A  MOST 

IIEMARK.ABLE  MAN  ;  TOGETHER  WITH  SICETCHES  OF  ALL  TUE  IMPORTANT 

PERSONAGES  WITH  WHOM  HE  WAS  THROWN  IN  CONTACT, 


DREW,   VANDERBILT,    GOULD,    TWEED,   Etc.,  Etc., 

AND  A  FINANCIAL  HISTORY  OF   THE 

COUNTRY  FOR  THE  LAST  THREE  YEARS. 

EHBBACING,   ALSO,    THE  LIVES   OF 

HELEN    JOSEPHINE     MANSFIELD, 

THE   ENCHANTRESS, 

AND 

EDV/ARD    S.    STOKES, 
the  assassin. 

By    R.    W.    McALPI  N  E, 

A  HEMBEIt  OP  THE  NEW  YORK  PRE8B. 

ILLTJSTRATEI). 


NEW    YORK: 
THE  NEW  YORK  BOOK  COMPANY,  145  NASSAU  STREET; 

B.  R.  STURGES,  81  WASHINGTON  STREET,  BOSTON ; 

SCHUYLER  SMITH,  LONDON.  ONTARIO  ; 

U.  S.  GENERAL  SUBSCIUPTION  AGENCY,  PHIL.'^DELPUIA,  Pa. 

DOBBS   &  McCOLLUM,   TITrsVILLE,   Pa.;   C.   P.   BRADWAY.   DAN^'ILLE.  Pa- 

H.  H.  NATT  &  CO.,  CINCINNATI,  O.;  F.  DEWING  &  CO.,  SAN  FRANCISCtt 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

W.    WELLAND, 

Id  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


UiMVERsiTv  or  rxiirmisi^ 


EDWARD   S.    STOKES. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


List  of  Illustrations 8 

Intboduction 9 

CHAPTER  I. 

James  Fisk,  the  Boy  — At  school —His  Composition  about  the  Bog  —  Jim's  Yarn-spinning — 
His  Romancing,  and  how  it  ended  —  He  begins  his  career  as  a  business  man 15 

CHAPTER    II. 

Peddling  —  The  offer  —  A  good  Trade  —  Jim  buys  his  Father  out,  and  employs  him  on  salary  — 
A  happy  life  —  How  he  advertised  —  He  abandons  his  wagon-raids,  and  becomes  a  counter- 
jumper— "I  never  liked  to  dicker"  — "'If  there's  anything  I  hate  wori-e.  it's  lying"  — 
"Don't  be  a  salesman "  —  "  Better  be  a  nunnery  "  — As  a  Salesman  he  is  not  a  success.    22 

CHAPTER    III. 

Goes  into  speculation  — His  dealings  with  the  Government  —  lie  spends  $1,000  a  day  wining 
and  dining  his  guests  at  Willard's  —  What  he  thought  of  Shoddy— "The  man  that  will 
take  the  upperhand  of  a  soldier  is  a  tliief— There's  no  sand  in  his  craw  — The  sooner  he 
takes  to  gravel  the  better" 28 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Fisk  becomes  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.  —He  teaches  his  partners  some- 
thing—What Fisk  knew  about  war  —  His  cotton  speculations  —  He  goes  South  — The 
actress  in  the  field- Fisk  in  iho  Red  River  Campaign- Explosion  of  his  steamer —  $500,- 
000  a  day  in  cotton  —  Inside  the  Kebol  lines  —  A  surprise  —  How  Fisk  ran  for  life,  and  left 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  in  greenbacks  behind  —  Fisk's  old  tin-oven  —  The  bloody  Held 
of  Antietam  — What  Fisk  did  for  the  soldiers —  " Preach  God  in  a  new  way  to-day"  — 
Pious  Sabbath-breaking 81 

CHAPTER    V. 

Butter  and  cheese  —  Dealings  in  hops  —  The  strong  man  of  the  firm  —  Goulding's  Patent  — 
Fisk  sells  out—  Starts  for  himself  —  Dry-goods  down  —  He  fails  and  pays  up  —  Tries  Wall 
Street- Tossed  by  the  Bulls  and  hugged  by  the  Bears  — Ruined  in  pocket,  but  rich  in 
pluck  —  Tries  Wall  Street  again  —  "  risk's  Luck  " 43 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Paniel  Drew,  King  of  the  Bears  — The  Bristol  line  of  steamers  —  "You'll  do.  Jeems"  — Pur" 
chase  of  the  steamers  — '•'Unio  is  Jim  Fisk?" -Uncle  Daniel  sets  Fisk  up  as  a  broker  — 
The  great  "  Bear  Movement "  —  Wall  Street  slang  —  How  to  buy  100  for  1  46 

(3) 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    YII. 

Drew's  collateral  —  The  first  fight  for  Erie  —  Vanderbilt  against  Uncle  Daniel  — The  coalition 

—  An  injunction,  fruitful  mother  of  a  hundred  more  —  Daniel  Drew  visits  the  Commodore  on 
Sunday  —  They  shake  hands,  and  Vanderbilt  promises  to  sell  his  friends  —  The  second  Sun- 
day call  —  The  third  —  Uncle  Daniel  explains  —  A  new  arrangement 51 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

What  Backet's  Old  Buckle  says  about  Bears— What  a  tangled  web  we  weave  when  we  first 
practice  to  deceive  —  F>sk  and  Gould  elected  — Drew  resigns  —  The  Bears  howl  —  The  trick 

—  The  0:d  Bear  aflects  to  "Bull"  —  "Don't  be  skeered,  boys"— The  Methodist's  method 

—  How  the  Ring  was  sold  by  the  church-builder  —  Vanderbilt  bitten 59 

CHAPTER    IX. 

The  first  suit  against  Erie  — Drew  cafled  to  account  —  Judge  Barnard  issues  one  of  those  injunc- 
tions —  How  Uncle  Daniel  got  his  stock  —  He  is  charged  with  fibbing,  and  does  not  deny  — 
More  injunctions  —  More  yet  —  Fisk  testifies 63 

CHAPTER    X. 

Drew's  new  trick  with  new  bonds  —  Erie  issues  $10,000,000,  half  for  Fisk,  half  for  Uncle  Daniel 

—  Eric  up  I  —  Drew  is  "  rally  sorry  for  Vanderbilt "  —  Wall  Street  amazed  —  Erie  down !  — 
The  battle  of  the  giants  —  Vanderbilt  still  buys  —  Drew  dismayed  —  Another  injunction — 
The  secret  of  Vanderbilt's  course  toward  Erie 72 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Judge  Barnard  enjoined  — The  injunction —  An  instructive  and  amusing  chapter 79 

CHAPTER    XII. 

A  great  deal  about  Injunctions  —  The  history  of  injunctions  —  Erie  in  the  Legislature  —  Eepre- 
Bcntative  Glenn  charges  fellow-mcnibers  with  accepting  bribes  —  And  *ilh  giving  bribes 

—  Dark  hints  touching  a  Milk  Bill  —  A  Committee  appointed  —  Mr.  Glenn  refuses  to  tes- 


tify 


8T 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Uncle  Daniel  disobeys  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  —  lie  trembles  in  Wall  Street—  Has  Fisk 
deserted  me  ?  —  Fisk  throws  his  .'50,000  shares,  and  Erie  goes  down  —  Ruin  in  Wall  Street  — 
Yauderbilt  loses  $10,000,000  —  Some  more  Erie  war  —  Barnard  belligerent —Everybody  in 
contempt  —  A  Receiver  appointed 96 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Fisk,  Gould.  Drew  and  others  abscond  to  Jersey  —  They  carry  away  $8,000,000  —  Eric  made  a 
New  Jersey  Corporation  —  Attempt  to  kidnap  Uncle  Daniel  —  The  Judges'  injunctions 
counter-enjoined  —  DistresB  in  the  money  market y 

CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Receivership  —  An  attempt  to  prevent  the  multiplicity  of  suits,  and  what  it  came  to  — Judge 
Barnard  on  his  mettle  —  Fort  Taylor  In  danger  1  —  A  false  alarm  —  Vigilance  of  the  Exiles 
of  Erie 112 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

rhe  Erie  war  In  Albany  —  The  lions  of  the  law  battling  for  the  litigating  lambs 117 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Uncle  Daniel  tires  of  Jersey  —  The  midnii^'Jit  trips  to  the  land  of  Manhattan  —  Drew  pnepected 
of  treachery  —  lie  is  shadowed  —  He  does  not  go  to  churcii  —  He  visits  Vanderbilt  —  Losa 
of  the  $8,000,000  —  Drew  a;;aiu  !  —  Fisk  gives  checit,  and  wins  in  one  move 121 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Drew  continnee  bis  clandestine  visits  to  the  Commodore  —  Jay  Gould  divulges  some  secrets  — 
He  goes  as  a  missionary  to  Albany,  but  is  molested  and  made  afraid  —  He  meets  a  sheriff 
and  a  summons,  but  gives  bail,  and  instructs  members  of  the  Assembly l'J5 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Jay  Gould  is  sold  by  those  whom  he  had  bought  — Eric  defeated  — The  two  reports  in  fUll.    133 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Jay  Gould's  certificate  of  disability —  The  invalid's  liberality — A  singular  malady  —  The  new 
Erie  Bill  —  A  grand  success  —  Mr.  Mattoon's  remarkable  conversion 13'J 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

The  Drew-Vanderbilt  Compromise  —  Result  of  Drew's  intrigues  —  Return  of  the  Erie  Exiles  — 
The  English  holders  of  Erie  stock  alarmed  —  Uncle  Daniel  calls  on  Fisk  and  confesses  — 
He  begs  and  threatens  —  More  injunctions  —  Fisk  in  possession  of  the  Erie  road 144 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Fisk  sues  the  Tribune  and  other  papers  for  libel  — The  Erie  Directors  on  the  offensive  — The 
black  carpet-bag — Fisk  meets  the  Commodore  —  A  funny  interview  —  The  arrest  of  Sam. 
Bowles  —  An  editor's  uiglit  in  Ludlow  Street  Jail loj 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Why  Fisk  fought  Sam.  Bowles  —  What  Bowles  said  of  his  night  in  Jail 168 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Samuel  Bowles  on  the  Press  —  Fisk  berated  in  the  newspapers 179 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

A  suit  for  $5,000,000  —  Fisk  on  the  stand  —  He  keeps  the  Court-room  in  a  roar  —  How  he  signed 
papers  —  Gould's  man  Friday  —  The  episode  in  Fisk's  life  —  His  grey-hairs,  and  the  cow 
case 183 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Opening  of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  —  The  Grand  Opera  House  —  Trouble  with  a 
Sunday-school  —  Fisk's  magnanimity  —  Railroad  rumors  —  They  drive  a  journalist  mad.    194 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

Opening  of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  war  — Fisk  and  Gould  interested  —  The  Hon. 
Jerry  S.  Black's  answer  to  Charles  Fnincis  Adams  — The  theory  of  injunctions  — Ramsey's 
raids  —  The  purity  and  majesty  of  the  law 203 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Albany  and  Susquehanna  war  — Contending  forces  in  the  field  — Fight  at  the  Tunnel  — 
Fisk  at  Albany  —  Horace  Greeley  on  injunctions  —  What  he  knew  about  Judges,  etc. . .     239 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Gold  Panic  — What  the  President's  brother-in-law  had  to  do  with  it  — Fisk  and  Gould's 
manoeuvres  to  entrap  President  G  rant  —  How  they  succeeded  —  Fisli  does  not  wish  to  specu- 
late in  sold  — The  celebrated  Times  articltj- Fisk  in  the  gold-room  —  Gould's  policy  — 
Gon.  Bnlterfleld  in  the  Ring  —  Fisk's  strange  interview  with  the  brother  in  law  of  the 
President  — His  talk  with  Gen.  Grant  about  the  finances- The  hurried  message  to  the 
President  — Money  for  Corbin,  the  guileless  man  — Weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
leeth  — Corbin  in  tears  — Fisk's  ••phantom  Gold "— It  went  where  the  woodbine  twineth 

—  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Investigation '^S 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Fisk  elected  Colonel  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  —  Reception  at  the  Opera  House  — Trip  to  Long 
Branch  —  The  Ninth  at  Camp  Gould  —  Col.  Fisk  after  the  deserters  —  The  Band  and  their 
lager  —  Gov.  Hoffman  received  —  How  Fisk  fires  grape 297 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Ball  at  the  Continental  —  Col.  Fisk's  Address  to  the  Regiment  —  Ball  at  the  New  York  Acad- 
emy of  Music  —  Fisk's  Speech  to  the  Workmen  at  Susquehanna,  Pa.  —  •'  Don't  hanker  after 
diamonds  and  velvet  coats  " 302 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Col.  Fisk  and  the  Court  Journals  —  A  Trip  to  Boston  —  Fisk  snubbed  —  Spicy  letter  to  the 
Mayor  of  Boston  —  Fisk's  nose  up  —  His  Praying-band  —  The  Sunday  night  show  —  Fisk 
addresses  the  Ninth 30^ 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  Orange  Riot  —  Police  Order  — Gov.  Hoffman  revokes  it  —  "  The  Orangemen  shall  pa- 
rade'"— Fight  in  Eighth  Avenue  —  Bloodshed  —  Fir^k's  escapade  —  His  owm  account  of  it 

—  The  Irishmen  after  him  —  HiS  skill  in  fence-climbing  —  His  disguise  —  Flees  to  Long 
Branch 319 

CPIAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  last  time  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  —  Fisk  and  the  Grand  Duke  —  The  serenade  —  Fight 
with  the  Union  Pacific  —  Their  safe  opened  with  sledge-hammer  and  chisel  —  what  fol 
lowed 324 

CHAPTER   XXXV. 

Arrest  of  Edward  S.  Stokes  —  The  BrookljTi  Oil  Refinery  —  Fisk  betrayed  by  his  mistress  — 
Stoke3*deflant  —  From  friendship  to  enmity  —  A  physical  impossibility  —  Blackmail  - 
Josle  sues  Fisk  —  The  trial 329 

•     CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

Btokea  on  the  trail  —  lie  skulks  in  the  corridor  of  the  Grand  Central  —  Fisk  shot  —  Stokes 
seized  —  He  is  identified  by  his  victim  —  Fisk's  ante-mortem  deposition  —  His  deith. .    338 

CHAPTER   XXXVII. 
riie  Inquest  —  How  the  murder  was  committed  —  Was  Fisk  armed  ?    848 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

The  Inquest  continued  -  Testimony  of  a  stupid  witness 371 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

The  Verdict  —  Stokes  examined  —  Recommitted  to  the  Tombt)  —  risk's  body  iying  in  state  — 
Affecting  scenes  —  Tlio  funeral  —  Chaplain  Flagg's  sermon  at  Brattleboro' 387 

CHAPTER   XL. 

The  celebrated  Fisk-Mansficld  letters  —  Fisk's  confession  —  "  I  have  songht  and  obUined  the 
forgiveness  of  my  wife,  now  let  the  world  laugh  " 393 

CHAPTER   XLI. 

The  English  Stockholders- of  Erie  —  The  fall  of  Tammany,  and  its  effect  —  Gen.  Sickles  returns 
ft-om  Spain,  and  devises  ways  and  means  to  save  Erie  —  Kxcitement  at  headquarters  -  Ar- " 
rival  of  General*  McClellau  and  Dix  —  Jay  Gould  ousted  —  I!e  resigns  as  President  —  Tlie 
new  Directory  —  Gen.  Dlx  elected  President  —  Jay  Gould  leaves  Erie  forever 4i2 

ANECDOTES,   Etc. 

John  Morrisscy  and  James  Fisk  —  An  unfounded  rumor  —  Elchard  Orant  White's  letter  — 
Fisk's  kindness  of  heart  —  He  saves  a  young  merchant  —  Fi.-k  and  the  Lecturer  —  "  Let 
her  fall  I"  —  The  boeiis  dispatch  —  Orders  to  shoot  Fisk  on  Election  day  —  Bribery  in  the 
Legislature  —  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  Prince  Erie  —  President  Grant  at  the  Opera  House  — 
"  j'ubilee  Jim  "  —  Horace  Greeley  in  the  bridal-chamber  —  Fisk's  owls  —  The  Grand  Opera 
House  —  The  new  ferry  —  Seven-up  for  a  railroad  —  Fisk's  flr=t  mistake  in  life  —  His  sec- 
ond —  Fisk  and  the  Sing-Sing  convict  —  For  charity  —  The  colored  minister  —  The  hump- 
back newsboy  —  The  Morse  family  —  Mrs.  James  Fisk.  Jr.,  and  her  Boston  mansion  — 
The  Fisk  jewels  —  The  theological  student  —  What  is  the  use  of  a  grave-yard  fence  ?  — 
"  Syr  Jimllsk  "  —  Fisk's  Will  —  His  birds  —  The  sale  —  Fisk  saves  the  National  Savings' 
Bank  —  Gratitude  of  Thurlow  Weed  —  "  Send  them  to  me  for  coal  and  flour  "  —  A  chapter 
in  Helen  Josephine  Mansfield's  life  —  Frank  Lawlor's  story 4-33 

BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

COMMODOBE  Vandekbilt.    Begins  life  as  a  waterman  —  His  courage  -  Steam-boating  —  "  Tho 

Steamboat  King "  —  " 'SVlio  is  this  Fisk?  — Advice  to  a  relative —  "  Keep  out  of  Wall 

Street"— The  Golden  Wedding  —  The  Vanderbilt  bronzes  —  The  largest  depots  in  tho 

world **^ 

Daniel  Duew.  His  birth  in  the  Paradise  of  Showmen  —  He  goes  to  war  —  Buys  cattle  — 
Drew  and  Astor  —  Steamboats  —  Opposition  to  Vanderbilt  —  Railroads  —  "  King  of  the 
Bears"  —  Goes  into  Erie  —  And  into  religion  —  Drew  and  Vanderbilt  join  forces  and  buy 
the  Harlem  road  —  Drew's  wealth 491 

Jay  Goui.d.  His  influence  in  Wall  Street  —  His  friend=>hip  for  Fisk  —  How  he  forced  Fisk  to 
resign  —  Retribution 495 

William  M.  Tweed.  Birth  —  Chair-making  —  "  Big  Six  "  —  How  Tweed  came  into  power 
—  His  career '^''^ 

Edward  S.  Stokes.  Birth  in  Philadelphia  —  At  the  High-school  —  Removes  to  New  York  — 
Goes  into  business  —  Speculates  and  becomes  "  fast "  — Acquaintance  with  Fisk  — His 
connection  with  Josie ^^^ 

Helen  JosErnixE  Mansfield.  Bom  in  Boston  —  Removes  to  California  —  Marries  Frank 
Lawlor  —  Her  own  story  —  Scandal  —  Result  of  a  bad  life 0O4 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

The  Late  James  Fisk,  Jr Frontispiece, 

Edward  S.  Stokes 1 

Helen  Josepuixe  Mansfield 9 

Jay  Gould 13 

As  a  Tavern  Boy 19 

In  Business  "with  nis  Father  19 

In  Business  for  Himself 37 

Daniel  Drew 55 

Fisk  and  Gould  going  to  Jersey 73 

Directors'  Room  at  Taylor's  Hotel. 91 

The  Guard-Room  at  Taylor's 109 

In  Central  Park 127 

Relief  for  Chicago 127 

At  Long  Branch 145 

With  U.  S.  Grant 163 

The  Introduction 181 

The  Fight  between  the  "  Bulls  and  Bears  " 199 

New  York  Stock  Exchange  in  Session 217 

In  Confidence  with  Josie 235 

As  Admiral 235 

Black  Friday 253 

Miss  Mansfield's  First  Visit  to  Fisk's  Office 271 

The  Residence  of  Miss  Mansfield 289 

The  Orange  Riot 307 

Grand  Duke  Alexis 325 

Her  Father's  Fate 343 

Husband  and  Wife 343 

The  Lunch  before  the  Murder 301 

Stokes  Lying  in  Wait  for  Fisk 379 

The  Negro  Servant's  Tribute  op  Flowers 397 

Removing  Col.  Fisk  After  he  was  Shot 415 

Jay  Gould  Weeping  beside  the  Coffin 433 

William  M.Tweed 451 

The  Grave  of  Col.  James  Fisk,  Jr 469 

Commodore  Vanderbilt 487 

Remorse 505 


HELEN  J03EPHINE   MANSFIELD. 


INTRODUCTION. 

No  apology  for  offering  this  book  to  the  public  is  needed. 
The  tragic  occurrence  on  the  6th  of  January,  1872,  which 
resulted  in  the  death  of  Col.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  terminated  the 
career  of  a  most  remarkable  man,  whose  name  had  become 
familiar  to  nearly  every  reader  in  the  world.  For  five  years 
or  more  he  and  his  deeds  were  always  subjects  of  general 
interest ;  the  boldness  of  his  schemes,  his  seeming  reckless- 
ness in  every  operation  in  which  he  engaged,  the  character  of 
the  associates  with  whom  he  was  most  intimately  connected, 
made  him  at  all  times  remarkable,  and  the  reading  public 
were  never  tired  of  discussing  him.  The  manner  of  his  tak- 
ing off,  and  the  singular  circumstances  leading  to  it,  have 
only  increased  the  desire  to  learn  all  that  may  be  known  of 
the  man,  and  it  is  with  the  view  of  fully  satisfying  that  desire 
that  this  book  has  been  prepared.  He  was  a  man  of  un- 
bounded ambition  ;  full  of  generous  impulses,  though  erra- 
tic and  somewhat  reckless.  No  enterprise  was  too  vast  for 
his  ambition,  or  too  difficult  for  his  genius  ;  and  no  giant  of 
the  money  world  could  intimidate  him  when  he  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  accomplish  a  given  object.  Everything  he 
touched  was  a  success.  The  drama,  the  opera,  the  railroad, 
the  stock-market,  and  even  our  local  marine  found  in  him  a 
ready  capitalist  and  a  shrewd  leader.  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
grapple  with  Vanderbilt,  one  of  the  financial  monarchs  ot 
the  age,  and  the  astute  and  wily  Daniel  Drew  was  not  loath 
to  secure  the  aid  of  the  young  adventurer.  His  purse  was 
ever  open  to  the  needy,  yet  his  charities  were  rarely  marked 
by  ostentatious  display.  As  the  commander  of  a  regiment,  he 
lavished  money  in  supporting  his  own  organization,  while  he 
created  a  spirit  of  rivalry  which  infused  new  life  into  the  whole 
of  the  National  Guard  of  New  York,  and  forced  from  many 
prominent  military  men  what  they  had  previously  denied 
him,  a  hearty  recognition  of  his  enterprise  and  public  spirit. 


lO  INTRODUCTION. 

One  of  the  most  eccentric  men  that  ever  basked  in  the 
sunshine  of  prosperity,  he  was  at  the  same  time  one  of  the 
most  kindly.  He  was  wayward,  yet  clear-headed  ;  hot-tem- 
pered, yet  easily  won  by  a  pleasant  word  ;  notoriously  indif- 
ferent to  the  opinion  of  the  world,  but  ever  ready  to  alleviate 
humanity's  sorrows.  His  faults  were  many,  but  now  that  he 
is  dead,  thousands  of  people  who  felt  his  quiet  sympathy, 
and  enjoyed  his  princely  bounty,  will  forget  the  follies  of  the 
erring  man,  and  remember  only  the  tender  solicitude  of  the 
benefactor  and  his  prompt  and  hearty  answer  to  appeals  for 
aid.  The  world  has  not  had  time  to  forget  his  labors  on  be- 
half of  the  Chicago  sufferers  ;  and  there  are  many  who  can 
recall  that  bright  sunny  Sabbath-day  when  the  news  of  the 
battle  of  Antietam  reached  Boston,  and  when  Fisk,  then  an 
obscure  dry-goods  salesman,  by  appeals  to  the  clergy  and 
the  congregations  of  the  city,  induced  them  to  devote  the 
holy  day  to  the  preparation  of  needful  supplies  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  braves  on  that  bloody  field,  and  toiled  through- 
out the  day  and  night  in  superintending  the  transportation  of 
the  precious  freight. 

But  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  must  not  be  judged  altogether  on 
his  merit  as  a  good-hearted  man.  He  was  a  power  in  the 
land.  His  audacity  in  speculation  was  fully  matched  by  the 
success  that  attended  his  efforts  to  control  the  Legislature, 
and  even  the  Judiciar}^  on  nearly  all  occasions  when  their 
action  was  needed  to  advance  his  interests.  For  many  years 
the  bar  of  Europe  and  America  strove  in  vain  to  loosen  hi? 
grasp  upon  the  Erie  Road,  and  all  to  no  apparent  effect. 
The  strongest  attacks  upon  him  resulted  in  nothing.  The 
man  seemed  predestined  to  a  life  of  unvarying  success.  His 
influence  upon  the  financial  history  of  the  country  for  three 
or  four  years  was  greater  than  that  of  any  hundred  other 
men  combined,  for  he  dealt  with  Fortune  v/ith  a  perfect 
trust  in  her  good-will  to  him,  and  his  dealings  were  almost 
unparalleled  in  their  magnitude.  "  The  pistol-shot  of  a  Cy- 
prian's champion,"  said  the  Tribune,  on  the  morning  after  Fisk's 
death,  "  will  have  its  echo  in  every  exchange  of  the  world." 

The  sam«  journal,  always  the  bitterest  in  its  denunciations 


INTRODUCTION.  II 

of  the  singular  man,  thus  sums  up  the  salient  points  in  his 
character,  and  comments  upon  his  strange  career: 

"  It  is  doubtful  whether  even  in  this  age,  so  fruitful  in  phe- 
nomenal men  and  in  sudden  transitions,  any  more  picturesque 
life  than  JFisk's  can  be  recorded.  His  purposes  were  as  insane 
as  those  of  Train  or  Clootz,  yet  he  accompHshed  them  all. 
His  morals  were  as  loose  as  those  of  Casanova  or  Lauzun,  yet 
in  this  reticent  age  he  had  no  reserve  or  concealments.  He 
was  an  adventurer  as  fantastic  as  Cagliostro,  but  never 
pretended  to  be  anything  more  than  what  he  was.  '  If  I 
were  not  Alexander,'  said  the  Macedonian,  '  I  would  be  Dio- 
genes.' This  Yankee  peddler  was  both — cynic  and  conqueror. 
Even  fiction  furnishes  few  personages  more  absurd  in  quali- 
ties and  in  fortune.  Falstaff  was  not  droller,  more  sensual, 
and  more  prudent.  The  list  which  Leporello  made  of  his 
master's  victims  was  scarcely  more  varied  in  race  and  name 
than  that  of  this  travesty  of  Don  Juan.  Even  the  story  ot 
Aladdin  ceases  to  seem  so  impossible  when  we  think  of  this 
illiterate  Vermonter  stepping  almost  without  an  interval  from 
his  cart  of  notions  to  take  the  reins  of  a  great  corporation,  to 
purchase  to-day  a  fleet  and  to-morrow  a  theater,  to  make  to- 
day a  panic  and  to-morrow  a  statute,  to  buy  legislatures  and 
prima  donnas,  to  dazzle  Wall  street  with  the  brilliancy  of  his 
thefts  and  Central  Park  with  the  splendor  of  his  equipages ; 
to  complement  Sardanapalus  with  Robert  Macaire. 

"  It  is  not  creditable  to  our  society  and  our  civilization  that 
such  careers  are  possible.  But  the  public  conscience,  if  not 
vigorous  enough  to  prevent  them,  has  still  enough  vitahty  to 
mark  and  to  resist  them.  In  the  hight  of  his  power  Tweed 
knew  no  men  but  politicians.  When  Fisk  was  the  most  dread- 
ed man  in  the  business  world,  he  had  no  social  relations.  His 
four-in-hand  usually  conveyed  more  spotted  reputations  than 
his  own.  His  box  in  his  own  Opera  House  was  shunned  as  if 
infected,  by  all  who  had  any  character  to  lose.  The  enor- 
mous diamonds  he  so  delighted  to  wear  only  shed  a  stronger 
light  upon  the  isolation  in  which  he  Uved. 

"  His  eccentricities  marked  him  out  for  punishment.  He 
lived  so  much  in  the  public  eye,  his  vanity  and  desire  for  ad- 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

miration  made  him  so  grotesquely  picturesque,  that  he  be- 
came a  sort  of  type  of  that  spirit  of  lawless  fraud  and  plunder 
which  created  him  and  by  which  he  flourished.  It  was  strong 
and  vigorous  in  Wall  street  long  before  him.  He  was  plucked 
and  stripped  by  it  when  he  first  arrived  here.  He  grappled 
with  it,  and  at  last  forced  it  to  serve  him.  There  were  worse 
men  in  the  street  than  he  could  learn  to  be.  When  he  is  laid 
away  in  a  grave  where  only  a  few  will  regret  him,  meaner  and 
cooler  rogues,  who  now  join  in  condemning  him,  will  go  on 
cheating  their  friends  and  neighbors  the  same  as  before.  But 
the  public  notice  and  reprobation  was  attracted  by  the  mag- 
nitude, the  audacity,  and  the  marvelous  luck  of  this  man's 
ventures.  His  carriages,  his  gems,  and  his  uniforms  continu- 
ally advertised  him  to  the  general  indignation,  as  the  plumage 
of  a  tropical  bird  betrays  him  to  the  hunter.  His  flashes  of 
cynical  and  defiant  humor  furnished  unfailing  quotations  to 
the  haunters  of  the  Clubs  who  imitated  in  silence  the  vices 
they  affected  to  denounce.  He  was  a  predestined  scape-goat, 
and  so  Wall  street  willingly  loaded  all  its  sins  on  his  broad 
shoulders  and  sent  him  out  into  the  wilderness  of  ill-repute. 

"  We  know  the  worst  of  him.  What  there  was  good  in  him 
the  world  has  had  little  chance  to  learn.  He  was  no  hypo- 
crite— if  that  is  any  praise.  When  he  devoured  the  widow's 
substance,  he  differed  from  many  of  his  associates  in  reh^ain- 
ing  from  the  pretence  of  long  prayers.  In  the  household 
circle  where  he  was  known  before  he  became  the  James  Fisk, 
Jr.,  of  history,  he  will  be  sincerely  mourned  and  wept.  Per- 
haps it  is  as  well  that  we  should  leave  his  story  as  it  is  known 
to  the  world — a  warning  and  a  lesson.  There  would  be  little 
to  regret  in  the  close  of  his  career,  if  the  public  reprobation 
which  was  so  freely  lavished  upon  him  could  be  turned  upon 
the  system  that  produced  him  and  the  slyer  transgressors  he 
has  left  behind." 

In  this  book  the  whole  story  of  Fisk's  remarkable  career  is 
told  plainly  and  truthfully.  No  pains  have  been  spared  to 
make  it  what  we  hope  the  public  will  declare  it  to  be,  an  im- 
partial Life  of  James  Fisk,  Jr. 


JAY    GOULD. 


THE 

LIFE   AND   TIMES 


JAMES    FISK,    Jr 


CHAPTER    I. 


James  Fisk,  Jr.,  one  of  the  very  many  singular  characters 
whom  the  New  England  States  have  produced,  was  born  near 
the  battle-field  of  Bennington,  Vermont,  on  the  ist  of  April, 
1835.  His  father  was  an  old-fashioned  country  peddler,  of  a 
class  now  seldom  met  with  except  in  regions  far  removed  from 
railroad  lines,  although  sometimes  encountered  even  in  dis- 
tricts which  the  iron  horse  traverses  in  all  directions.  He  was  a 
very  plain,  commonplace  man,  with  no  education,  and  imbued 
with  very  little  more  taste  than  that  acquired  in  a  life  devoted 
to  petty  trade  and  in  a  country  inhabited  mainly  by  people 
more  gfiven  to  manual  labor  than  to  intellectual  culture.  His 
mother,  the  eldest  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  farmer,  was  noted 
for  her  neatness  and  thrift,  and  her  great  devotion  to  her 
husband  and  family.  She  died  when  Jim  was  two  years  old, 
and  shortly  afterward  the  elder  Fisk  married  again. 

At  the  age  of  five,  little  Jim,  a  fat  and  mischievous  urchin, 
whose  great  delight  was  in  "  making  a  trade"  with  some  play- 
er 5) 


l6  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

fellow,  or  in  wandering'  away  for  miles  in  the  country  with  a 
certainty  of  being  soundly  flogged  on  his  return,  was  taken 
by  his  parents  to  Brattleboro,  where  his  father  established  his 
head-quarters.  Here  Jim  was  sent  to  school,  and  was  not  lonj^jr 
in  making  himself  famous,  not  for  proficiency  in  his  studies, 
but,  on  the  contrar}-,  for  his  utter  inability  to  appreciate  the 
beauties  of  literal  combination  as  set  forth  in  Webster's  old 
spelling-book,  and  his  quaintly-expressed  contempt  for  the 
syntax  of  his  native  tongue.  Long  after  he  had  reached 
"  three  syllables"  and  had  learned  to  write  with  some  degree 
of  skill,  he  continued  to  spell  "  busy"  with  two  ^s  and  an 
i,  altogether  ignonng  the  n,  which  he  evidentl}'-  believed 
to  be  out  of  place.  One  of  his  copy-books,  used  when  he 
was  about  twelve  years  old,  is  still  preserved  b}^  his  step- 
mother at  her  home  in  Brattleboro,  and  to  say  that  it  is 
a  literary  curiosity  is  to  do  meagre  justice  to  one  of  the  most 
original  of  all  the  written  results  of  school-boy  labor  ever 
examined  by  the  critic.  Hardly  a  page  but  shows  the 
antipathy  of  the  boy  to  everything  like  set  forms,  and  hardly  a 
line  but  bears  evidence  of  his  natural  contempt  for  uniformity. 
The  little  book  contains  three  or  four  compositions,  one  of 
which,  entitled  "A  Piece  about  The  Dog,"  is  as  unique  as 
anything  ever  penned  by  Artemus  Ward.  The  young  writer 
says  in  his  "  Piece"  (which  had  evidently  been  originally 
written  "  Peace  ") : 

"  A  Dog  is  an  animal  with  fore  legs  because  he  is  a  quad- 
rooped.  I  like  large  dogs  best  because  they  can  run  further 
and  fight  better  than  little  dogs  and  they  can  also  cetch  rabits. 
A  big  dog  aint  worth  much  without  hes  got  good  breed  into 
him.  Then  I  had  drather  hev  a  littler  one.  They  can  also 
drag  sleds  some  has  been  learned  to  cary  sticks  and  baskets 
and  setcrer.  The  bulldog  is  the  best  fighting  dog  because 
most  likely  he  was  made  for  that  purpus.     A  terrier  goes 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 7 

mostly  for  rats  but  they  can  also  fight.  I  think  the  new- 
foundland  is  the  noblest  dog,  he  saves  children  from  drownd- 
ing  and  they  are  sagasious.     This  is  all  for  the  present." 

He  was  reniarkably  fond  of  dogs,  horses  and  other  animals, 
and  had  a  special  Hking  for  little  children,  a  trait  that  charac- 
terized him  through  life.  One  of  his  schoolmates  says  that 
Jim  Fisk  was  ready  to  fight  the  largest  boy  at  school  whom 
he  might  detect  in  an  act  of  cruelty  or  oppression  toward 
anything  weaker,  whether  child  or  beast. 

Mr.  Fisk,  Sr.,  was  very  successful  as  a  peddler,  but  like 
nearly  all  Verm  outers  he  was  ever  ready  to  speculate  outside 
of  his  legitimate  business.  He  traded  in  live-stock  to  some 
extent,  bought  and  sold  real  estate,  and  shortly  after  taking 
up  his  residence  in  Brattleboro  built  the  Revere  House,  now 
the  property  of  Mrs.  Fisk.  The  hotel  was  much  needed,  but 
v/as  not  always  well  managed ;  so,  when  the  elder  Fisk 
became  dissatisfied  with  a  tenant,  he  would  take  charge  of  the 
house  himself  and  leave  his  peddling  business  in  the  hands 
of  trusted  agents.  For  a  long  time  young  Jim  served  as  a 
waiter  in  his  father's  hotel,  and  was  always  popular  with  the 
guests.  His  ready  wit,  his  unfailing  good  nature,  his  prompt- 
ness, and  his  strict  honesty  in  rendering  accounts  and  giving 
change,  gave  him  a  good  name,  which  not  even  the  reports 
of  his  later  career  can  injure  in  the  estimation  of  his  numer- 
ous old  customers,  the  honest  farmers  of  Eastern  Vermont. 
Jim  was  fond  of  reading  the  few  papers  that  reached  the  vil- 
lage, and  as  his  memory  was  good  he  always  mastered  their 
contents  and  could  entertain  a  select  company  of  travelers 
with  an  unfailing  stream  of  news-items  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  seasoned  and  spiced  with  his  quaint  comments.  As 
his  hearers  were  seldom  great  readers,  Jim  had  a  great  ad- 
vantage over  them,  and  he  was  more  than  once  credited  with 
the  authorship  of  witty  things  that  he   had  gathered  from 

2 


1 8  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the   "  serious  column"   of  the  papers  and   treasured  in   his 
mind  for  future  use. 

"  I  used  to  set  with  a  lot  of  old  fellows  around  the  stove  on 
cold  winter  nights,"  said  Fisk  to  a  friend,  a  few  months  before 
his  death,  "  and  spin  yarns.  I  tell  you,  it  was  fun  to  watch 
the  faces  of  them  men.  Most  of  them  liked  jokes  best,  but 
some  had  a  pious  preference  for  stories  with  a  one-horse 
moral.  Well,  I  knew  lots  of  such  stories ;  but,  to  save  my 
life,  I  couldn't  help  running  in  a  joke  once  in  a  while,  and 
then  you'd  ought  to  seen  the  skeered  looks  of  the  sober-sided 
ones.  Once  I  told  a  long  story.  It  was  about  some  Adolphus 
or  other  that  killed  his  rival  on  account  of  jealous}'.  They 
were  both  courting  the  same  lovely  maiden,  whose  father  was 
a  deacon  in  a  slab  church  with  a  skew  gable  and  a  square 
steeple,  with  one  of  these  corn-twisted  lightning-rods  pinting 
up  from  the  top  of  it  like  the  stick  of  an  umbrella.  I  described 
the  lovely  maid,  with  her  amber  hair  and  her  striped  calico 
gown  and  her  soft  blue  eyes,  and  pictured  her  on  the  way  to 
meetin',  with  Adolphus  a  little  ahead  of  her,  and  the  other 
fellow  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  Then  I  got  her  into 
church,  where  she  devoted  in  a  most  proper  manner,  with  all 
the  young  men  gazing  upon  her  like  head-lights  on  that  curve 
up  yonder  at  Carr's  Rock.  Then  I  escorted  her  home  again, 
where  the  two  rivals  met  at  the  garden  gate,  and  indulged  in 
profanity.  This  part  of  the  tale  I  cut  short,  like  a  terrier's 
tail,  of  course.  Then  I  told  how  the  two  infatuated  young 
men  fit  at  that  garden  gate,  and  how  the  lovely  maid  with 
the  amber  hair  rushed  out,  and  was  just  in  time  to  see  her 
favorite  killed.  Well,  you  see,  I  made  a  long  story  of  it, 
but  I  finally  got  her  and  Adolphus  in  love,  on  account 
of  the  explanation  he  made  when  they  had  him  in  jail, 
where  she  had  been  to  carry  him  .tracts  and  home-made 
bread,  and   to   gabble  with  him   through   the   bars.     Then 


r  AS    A     TAVERN.  BOr.l 


flM    BUSIMPSS   WITH  HIS   FATHFRI 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  21 

Adolphus  was  pardoned,  you  know,  and  the  happy  pair  got 
married.  Then  I  wound  up  by  remarking  that  Virtue  was 
its  own  reward  some  time  or  other,  any  how.  When  father 
heard  that,  and  seen  old  Mr.  Payson  Godfrey  open  his  eyes 
and  start  as  if  to  go  out,  he  said,  *  Look  here,  Jim,  you  know 
well  enough  that  that  wasn't  in  the  story.  Go  out  to  the 
barn,  now,  and  bed  them  horses.'  Well,  I  didn't  recover  from 
that  expose  for  a  good  while.  My  reputation  was  jammed, 
like  a  passenger  car  with  nary  a  bumper ;  for,  you  see,  most 
of  these  old  cusses  thought  that  my  stories  and  things  was  all 
original." 

Fisk,  Sr.,  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  his  boy  pos- 
sessed a  rare  talent  for  trade,  and  that  although  he  knew 
little  of  spelling  and  much  less  of  grammar,  he  was  a  ready 
reckoner,  and  rarely  made  a  mistake  in  any  question  of 
figures.  He,  therefore,  began  to  take  Jim  with  him  on  his 
peddling  tours.  The  youngster  at  once  proved  the  correct- 
ness of  the  father's  impressions ;  for  his  general  quickness,  his 
strong  intuitive  knowledge  of  character,  his  retentive  memory, 
and  his  natural  Yankee  acquaintance  with  the  quahty  and  value- 
of  all  mcrchantab)  ^  goods,  combined  to  make  him  from  the 
very  start,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  more  useful  than  any  man 
the  peddler  had  ever  employed.  Wherever  he  traveled 
with  the  old-fashioned  wagon,  he  was  sure  to  be  welcomed, 
for  he  was  a  general  favorite.  Business  increased  at  a  rate 
that  Fisk,  Sr.,  had  never  anticipated. 

"  I  say  Jim,"  said  the  father  one  day,  after  having  returned 
to  "  headquarters  "  with  an  empty  wagon  and  a  full  wallet, 
"  suppose  I  give  you  a  wagon?  " 

"  That's  a  question  I've  been  asking  myself,"  replied  young 
hopeful.  "  I  don't  much  cal'late  on  working  all  my  days  for 
board  and  clothes,  and  I  think,  if  you'll  only  give  me  a  good 
set-out.  we  can  make  thinofs  siss." 


22  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

A  wagon  was  ordered  from  Bennington,  and  a  fair  bargain 
entered  into  between  father  and  son.  The  two  lines  of  travel 
more  than  doubled  the  business  of  the  firm,  and  the  country 
besran  to  rinof  with  the  remarkable  success  of  James  Fisk  & 
Son. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Young  Fisk  was  now  in  his  element.  He  was,  to  a  certain 
extent,  his  own  master ;  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged 
exactly  suited  his  disposition,  and  his  popularity  was  daily 
increasing.  But  the  elder  Fisk  was  a  constant  restraint  to 
the  young  enthusiast.  He  saw  in  his  son  strong  evidence  of 
a  desire  to  shine  by 

"  showing  a  more  swelling  port 
Than  his  faint  means  would  grant  continuance," 

and  soon  learned  that  the  youngster  was  much  given  to  fine 
horses,  and  had  an  abiding  faith  in  jaunty  wagons  most 
gaudily  painted  and  elaborately  adorned.  He  therefore  tiled 
to  check  the  boy  in  his  exhibitions  of  showy  trappings,  fast 
horses,  and  gaudy  vehicles.  Father  and  son  could  not  agree. 
Their  ideas  touching  the  means  to  a  successful  end  were 
entirely  different.  Young  Fisk  was  a  natural  advertiser.  He 
believed  that  nothing  could  help  a  business  man  half  as  much 
as  to  be  talked  about.  Our  great  newspapers,  our  most  suc- 
cessful merchants,  our  quacks  and  other  humbugs,  are  all 
imbued  with  the  same  idea,  but  fortunately  have  better  facili- 
ties for  making  themselves  conspicuous.     The  two  found  that 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  2$ 

they  could  not  work  well  together.  One  day  at  a  breakfast 
table  of  a  tavern  where  they  chanced  to  meet  on  one  of  their 
trips,  young  James  turned  to  iiis  father  in  his  impulsive  way 
and  astonished  the  old  gentleman  with  the  query : 

"  Say,  Pop,  what  '11  you  take  for  your  share  in  this  show?" 

("Show"  was -always  a  favorite  word  with  Fisk.  He  was 
very  fond  of  shows  of  all  kinds,  and  had  at  one  time  acted  as 
an  assistant  to  Van  Amburgh,  the  great  lion-king.  His  career 
in  New  York  in  connection  with  the  Opera  House  and  other 
places  of  amusement,  and  with  Montaland,  Silly,  j\im(je,  and 
other  "  shows,"  is  a  sufficient  evidence  that  he  never  lost  the 
taste  formed  in  his  youth.) 

"  Well,"  said  Fisk  Sr.,  who,  like  most  trading  Vermonters, 
always  answered  a  question  de  more  Scottice — that  is,  by  asking 
another;  "  Well,  what  '11  you  give  ?" 

Said  James,  promptly — he  had  already  made  a  close  calcu- 
lation as  to  the  value  of  the  working  stock  of  the  firm — "  I'll 
give  you  08,ooo  for  your  share,  jest  as  it  stands,  with  your  two 
old  roans  that  ain't  worth  $ioo,  the  two  bays,  your  old  wagon, 
that  I'll  sell  for  lumber,  and  m}'  wagon.  We  haven't  Si,ooo 
worth  of  goods  left,  and  I  think  the  offer  is  fair." 

"  But  what  '11  I  do,  Jim,  if  I  give  up?" 

"  Why,  come  and  work  with  me.  Fll  give  you  $30  a 
week." 

"  Done,"  said  Fisk,  Sr. ;  and  the  transfer  was  made. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  countr}^  side  rang  with  the 
praises  of  Jim  Fisk's  new  turn-outs.  His  new  wagons  were 
the  most  splendid  affairs  ever  seen  in  New  England.  His 
horses  were  of  the  best  breed,  and  such  specimens  of  horse- 
flesh as  had  certainly  never  been  driven  by  peddlers  before. 
His  drivers  and  agents  were  all  selected  from  among  the 
shrewdest  and  most  experienced  itinerant  merchants  in  the 


24  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

State.  Before  starting  out  from  Brattleboro'  on  his  first  grand 
tour  in  force,  he  organized  his  business  thoroughly,  showing 
the  same  tact,  forethought  and  dash  that  ever  afterward  char- 
acterize'd  the  man  in  whatever  he  might  be  engaged.  His 
stock  of  silks,  satins,  velvets,  laces,  jewelry,  and  the  thousand 
and  one  little  nothings  that  help  so  materially  to  make  up  the 
sum  of  the  country  girl's  happiness,  was  immense.  He  was 
always  selling  out  and  ahvays  replenishing  from  Boston  and 
New  York,  and  for  miles  and  miles  through  the  country  in 
which  he  dealt  there  were  few  people,  either  farmers  or  mer- 
chants, manufacturers  or  mechanics,  who  did  not  believe  that 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  was  the  heaviest  dealer  outside  of  **  York ;" 
and  the  matrons  and  maids  from  one  end  of  his  route  to  the 
other  could  never  have  been  brought  to  admit  that  Jim  Fisk 
was  not  the  most  captivating  peddler,  the  most  stylish  driver, 
and  the  most  princely  traveler  that  ever  measured  silk, 
cracked  whip,  or  settled  tavern  bill. 

Long  after  the  period  here  spoken  of,  when  Fisk  was  a 
millionaire,  when  money  kings  feared  him,  when  the  press 
flattered  him,  when  fortune  seemed  to  promise  never  to  with- 
hold her  favors,  he  was  heard  to  say  to  a  knot  of  friends 
collected  in  his  cosy  office  m  the  Erie  Building : 

"  Happy !  By  George,  them  was  the  happiest  days  of  my 
life  !  I  had  everything  I  hankered  after,  money,  friends,  stock, 
trade,  credit,  and  the  best  horses  in  New  England.     Besides, 

by I  had  a  reputation.     There  wasn't  no  man  that  could 

throw  dirt  onto  Jim  Fisk.  M}-  word  was  good,  my  bills  was 
paid  prompt  as  the  splash  of  a  musk-rat.  Look  how  it  is 
now !  Because  I've  been  lucky,  half  these  d — d  papers  call 
me  a  thief,  and  they  even  blackguard  me  because  I've  been  a 
peddler.  Happy  !  You  bet !  I  was  as  proud  on  the  top  of 
that  wagon,  behind  those  four  bays,  as  I  am  now ;  and  I'll  be 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  2$ 

busted  if  I  didn't  sleep  a  sight  better.  In  them  days  I 
didn't  know  Delmonico.  I  didn't  keep  a  French  cook  and 
other  luxuries  too  numerous  to  mention,  but  I  could  eat  my 
rations  at  any  country  tavern  with  a  bully  relish,  and  talk 
pious  after  supper  a  good  deal  more  comfortable  than  I  can 
now.  By  the  Lord  !  If  it  wasn't  for  the  excitement,  and  the 
Twelve  Temptations,  and  a  few  other  Httlc  things  here  that 
I  couldn't  have  in  Vermont,  I'd  rather  be  driving  that 
wagon  than  managing  the  Erie  Railway." 

It  is  a  great  pity  that  he  could  not  have  remained  among 
his  native  hills,  where,  in  pursuit  of  a  calling  for  which  he 
was  admirably  adapted,  he  could  have  passed  a  long  life  of 
usefulness,  with  his  name  free  from  taint,  and  his  reputation 
for  honesty  and  morality  untarnished.  For  it  is  well  known 
among  his  friends  that  during  his  career  as  a  peddler,  when 
his  transactions  were  on  the  largest  scale,  he  was  never 
accused  of  unjust  dealing,  although  acknowledged  to  be,  per- 
haps, the  shrewdest  trader  in  the  State.  His  vices  seem  to 
have  been  contracted  after  his  removal  to  New  York,  where 
he  was  thrown  constantly  in  contact  with  men  accustomed 
to  the  dissipations  of  city  life. 

After  conducting  his  peddling  business  for  a  year  or  more 
with  great  success,  Fisk  accepted  the  offer  of  a  position  with 
Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  merchants  of  Boston,  of  whom  he  had 
purchased  the  greater  part  of  his  dry  goods.  They  knew 
that  he  was  prompt,  honest  and  energetic ;  and  had  heard 
time  and  again  of  his  great  popularity  and  success  as  a  trader. 
Fisk  had  been  very  extravagant  in  living,  and  no  less  ex- 
travagant in  providing  for  the  wants  of  others.  His  business, 
although  large  and  remunerative,  left  him  very  little  ahead 
of  the  world  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  believing  that  there 
was  a  bright  future  before  him,  he  gave  up  his  wagons  and 


26  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

horses,  and  went  to  Boston,  where  he  entered  the  service  of 
Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  as  salesman. 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Fisk,  when  once  relating  his  experience, 
"  that  was  the  most  disagreeable  position  I  ever  tried  to 
fill.  I  once  drove  team  for  a  menagerie.  I've  been  chief 
engineer  of  a  peddler's  caravan.  I  used  to  wait  on  table  in  a 
country  tavern.  I've  speculated.  I've  run  railroads  and 
steamboats.  I've  had  an  Opera  House  on  my  hands,  with  a 
cantankerous,  yawping  set  of  Opera  Buffers  to  quiet  and  to 
feed.  I've  been  a'most  anything  and  everything,  but  I'd 
rather  be  hired  to  drink  panegyric  by  the  w^eek,  or  to  track 
old  Greeley,  or  even  to  run  for  the  White  House  with  Grant 
alongside  of  me,  than  to  be  salesman  in  a  dry -goods  shop.  I 
don't  mean  a  retail  concern,  for  there'd  be  fun  in  that  for 
me,  but  a  wholesale  shop,  where  they  buy  by  the  cargo  and 
sell  by  the  raft.  Why,  you've  got  to  stand  up  alongside  of 
a  pile  of  goods  and  dicker  with  a  man.  I  never  liked  to 
dicker.  Then  if  you  don't  sell  him  you  are  below  par,  you 
see.  When  you  hear  of  an  arrival  at  a  hotel,  if  you're 
drumming  as  well  as  selling,  you  must  start  off,  find  your 
man,  interview  him,  like  these  reporters,  treat  him  to  the 
kind  of  pizen  he  likes  best,  and  then  lie  to  him  like  thunder. 
Now,  if  there's  anything  I  hate  worse  than  dickering,  its 
lying.  I  never  could  bear  to  lie.  Well,  you  come  it  over 
that  man.  You  get  him  into  your  place.  Then  you  try  to 
make  him  believe  that  your  firm  sells  cheaper  and  better 
goods  than  all  the  rest  in  the  trade.  He  don't  believe  it,  and 
you  don't.  He  knows  that  you  don't  believe  it,  and  you 
know  that  he  don't  believe  it,  but  there  you  stand  like  a  pair 
of  virtuous  owls,  and  maybe  you  sell  him.  If  you  don't,  he 
goes  to  some  other  shop  where  truth  is  quoted  at  a  high 
figure.     He  hears  the  same  story  from  some  other  virtuous 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  2/ 

salesman,  and  maybe  he  comes  back  to  3-011.  He's  a  darned 
fool  if  he  does ;  might  save  shoe-leather  and  hoof,  you  see, 
by  stopping  jest  where  he  is.  I  don't  like  to  run  after  trade. 
It's  worse  than  lying-^'est  about  as  bad  again.  When  I  was 
in  Vermont,  it  was  beneath  my  dignity  to  run  for  it.  People 
used  to  run  for  me.  I've  had  a  whole  ambulance  of  orders 
iiany  a  time  that  I  couldn't  fill,  and  more  a  coming  in. 
Never  be  a  salesman,  my  son,  is  my  advice.  The  poet  says, 
'  Better  to  have  lost  and  won  than  never  to  have  played  at 
all,'  but  unless  nature  has  borned  you  with  a  dry -goods  mark 
onto  your  back,  don't  be  a  salesman.     Better  be  a  nunnery." 

x\t  the  end  of  six  months  his  emplo3^ers  informed  him  that 
as  a  salesman  he  was  a  failure. 

"I  know  that,"  said  Fisk,  "but  suppose  you  try  me  at 
something  else.  You  can't  eat  soup  with  a  fork.  Put  me  at 
something  that  I  feel  I  can  do.  Let  me  go  out  into  the  world 
for  you,  and  I'll  make  my  light  shine  like  a  bushel  of  fire- 
bugs." 

At  this  time  his  habits  of  extravagance  were  very  marked, 
and  while  he  was  strictly  temperate,  and  was  not  known  to 
gamble,  or  to  spend  his  time  with  improper  characters,  his 
funds  were  always  low  just  after  the  first  of  the  month,  and  Jim 
Fisk  became  known  as  a  man  very  careless  in  money  matters. 
This  imputation,  however,  applied  to  him  only  in  regard  to 
his  own  money.  His  employers  always  regarded  him,  and 
still  remember  him,  as  one  of  the  most  accurate  and  conscien- 
tious clerks  in  Boston. 


28  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  war  was  Fisk's  first  opportunity  to 
display  to  any  great  extent  his  wonderful  ability  to  take  in 
at  a  glance  the  possibihties  of  a  speculation,  his  boldness  in 
taking  the  risk,  and  his  perfect  recklessness  in  carrying  out 
his  quickly  formed  plans. 

Immediately  after  the  caUing  out  of  the  first  75,000  troops 
there  was  a  great  demand  for  supplies  of  cotton  and  woollen 
garments  for  the  soldiers.  Fisk  was  soon  in  the  front  rank 
of  speculators  in  quest  of  contracts,  and  his  success  in  secur- 
ing them  was  as  great  as  the  means  whereby  he  secured  them 
were  secret.  It  has  alvva3^s  been  shrewdly  guessed  that  he 
paid  Hberally  for  the  favors  granted  him,  knowing  that  the 
profits  on  the  transactions  would  be  immense.  And  they 
were  immense.  Surprised  and  delighted  at  the  genius  of 
their  salesman,  the  firm  gave  him  full  liberty  to  do  as  he 
pleased  in  the  contract  business,  and  furnished  him  with 
blank  checks  to  be  used  at  his  discretion  in  defraying-  his 
enormous  expenses.  They  had  perfect  confidence  in  the  man 
— a  confidence  which  was  never  for  a  moment  shaken.  His 
rooms  at  Washington,  whither  he  went  to  deal  with  Govern- 
ment officers,  were  the  finest  at  Willard's.  They  were  open 
day  and  night,  and  the  most  generous  hospitality  was  dis- 
pensed to  all  who  choose  to  call  upon  him.  His  visitors 
comprised  officers  of  all  ranks,  but  he  was  particularly  par- 
tial to  members  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  whom 
he  had  a  powerful  object  in  winning.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
say  that  his  wines  and  cigars,  his  dchcate  lunches,  his  jokes, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  29 

and,  perhaps,  a  little  of  his  money  judiciously  distnoutcd, 
gaiiird  the  point  for  which  he  had  been  striving. 

He  secured  a  heavy  contract  for  the  supply  of  cotton  and 
woollen  shirts  and  underclothing,  which  netted  the  firm  a 
clear  profit  of  8150,000;  and  in  addition,  disposed  of  hun- 
dreds of  pairs  of  old  blankets  which  had  long  cumbered 
the  warehouse,  and  which  his  partners  had  despaired  of  ever 
selling.  The  samples  which  he  had  taken  to  Washington 
were  approved  on  inspection,  and  after  his  full  supply  was 
exhausted  he  was  awarded  a  contract  to  furnish  thousands 
more  at  a  large  advance  on  cost.  These  he  had  made  to 
order  at  mills  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  and  so  rapidly  was 
the  work  done  under  the  unceasing  stimulus  of  his  sharp 
"  Hurry  up!"  sent  daily  over  the  wires,  that  the  full  supply 
was  in  camp  and  distributed  days  before  the  terms  of  the 
contract  called  for  their  delivery  at  Washington.  His  ex- 
penses at  Willard's  at  this  time  were  ciooo  a  day. 

On  one  of  his  trips  to  the  Capital,  just  belore  the  close  of  the 
Fall  Campaign  of  1861,  he  was  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
army  officers  stationed  at  Washington,  many  of  whom  were 
afterward  suspected  of  having  been  at  that  time  deeply 
interested  in  various  contracts.  The  wine  had  flowed 
freely,  the  guests  were  hilarious,  and  Fisk  himself,  having 
that  day  effected  a  briUiant  stroke,  was  brimming  over  with 
fun.  But  then,  as  ever  afterward,  there  were  moments,  in 
the  midst  of  the  most  uproarious  mirth,  when  the  undercur- 
rent of  feeling  would  come  to  the  surface,  and  make  itself 
known  and  felt  in  some  quaint  expression  of  sentiment,  some 
earnest,  tender  word  of  pity,  called  forth  by  the  sight  of  a 
suffering  face,  or  the  sound  of  a  sorrowful  voice.  Even  a  care- 
less remark  about  an  act  of  wrong  or  injustice  would  often 
evoke  from  this  rare  compound  of  good  and  evil  such  ex- 


30  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

prcssions  of  honest  anger  as  satisfied  his  hearers  that  he  Avas 
not  a/together  the  buffoon  or  the  trickster. 

The  conversation,  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  was  on  the 
subject  of  contracts  and  supplies.  Smith's  successes  and 
Jones's  failures  were  canvassed  with  a  boisterous  hilarity  that 
would  do  honor  to  the  Stock  Exchange  on  "  Hat  Da3^"  It 
was  told  how  Robinson  outwitted  Thompson,  and  the  joke 
"  made  the  circles  of  their  eyes  flow  with  distilled  laughter;" 
how  Johnson  and  Grimes  played,  each  to  get  the  better  of 
the  other ;  how  West  beat  North  ;  how  North  retaliated  with 
a  co7{p  that  made  him  master  of  the  situation  ;  and  the  merri- 
ment was  unbounded. 

"  But  did  you  hear,"  said  one  of  the  party  during  a  lull — 
'^  did  you  hear  how  Brown,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Jones,  of 
New  York,  managed  to  run  their  shoddy  pants  and  their 
paper-soled  shoes  through  the  Quartermaster's  Department, 
and  how  they  got  that  fat  contract  ?" 

"  Let's  have  the  story !"  cried  a  dozen  or  more ;  and  the 
story  was  told,  amid  peals  of  laughter. 

Jim  Fisk,  perhaps  the  most  illiterate  man  present,  the  most 
uncultivated,  seemingly  the  most  reckless  and  sensual,  did 
not  join  in  the  laugh,  but  sat  silent,  with  his  chair  tipped 
back  against  the  wall. 

"Good,  wasn't  it,  Fisk?"  said  a  young  adventurer,  turning 
toward  him  as  the  story  was  brought  to  a  close. 

"  Good  ?     Yes,  d d   good,"  said    Fisk  with  emphasis. 

"  Did  they  hang  Brown  ?  Did  they  shoot  Jones  ?  If  they 
didn't  they  had  ought  to.  D d  hounds  !  I  tell  you,  gen- 
tlemen, it's  one  thing  to  trade  and  another  thing  to  steal. 
It's  one  thing  to  make  a  good  bargain  and  get  a  good  profit, 
even  when  you  deal  with  a  poor  man.  But  it  jest  strikes 
me  like  a  trip-hammer  onto  a  barnacle,  that  Jones  and  Brown 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  3I 

was  a  mile  ahead  of  felony  in  the  first  degree  when  they  took 
their  contracts  and  sent  in  their  goods  and  got  their  money. 
Who  paid  for  them  shoddy  pants  and  them  soft-shelled  shoes? 
Why,  they  were  paid  for  by  brave  men  with  their  blood,  and, 
by  G — d,  I  think  they  had  ought  to  had  a  quid  pro  quorum^ 
or  something  almighty  close  to  it,  for  their  outlay.  The  man 
that  will  take  the  upper  hand  of  a  soldier  in  the  field,  is  worse 
than  a  thief — there's  no  sand  in  his  craw — he's  ad d  God- 
forsaken, pink-cycd,  white-livered  scoundrel,  and  his  clothes 
don't  fit  him.     The  sooner  he  takes  to  gravel  the  better." 

This  vehement  outburst  was  entirely  unexpected.  It  was 
like  the  explosion  of  a  shell  in  a  quiet  camp ;  and  it  is  said 
that  ever  after  the  delivery  of  the  Vermont  speculator's  im- 
promptu speech,  his  guests  were  very  careful  not  to  broach 
"  shoddy"  again,  except  to  speak  of  contractors  of  the  Brown 
and  Jones  tj^pe  in  the  most  indignant  and  scornful  terms. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Fisk's  wonderful  success  soon  led  to  his  being  admitted  as 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  whom  he  had 
so  faithfully  served,  and  the  way  to  fortune  was  at  last  opened 
to  him.  He  continued  to  bid  for  and  secure  large  contracts, 
to  supply  which  it  became  necessary  for  the  firm  to  purchase 
mills  and  manufacture  for  themselves.  Their  business  in- 
creased so  rapidly  that  even  the  purchased  mills  were  unable 
to  turn  out  the  great  quantities  of  goods  called  for ;  and  as 
there  vere  no  more  mills  to  buy,  they  erected  several,  and  be- 


32  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

catoe  leading  manufacturers.  This  giant  stride  was  madt  at 
the  suggestion  of  their  junior  partner,  whose  word  at  this 
time  was  almost  equivalent  to  law.  They  obtained  the  mo- 
nopoly of  certain  kinds  of  goods  by  depleting  the  market,  and 
by  purchasing  the  only  mill  (that  at  Graysville,  Vermont), 
which  was  then  producing  them.  The  mill  was  run  for  about 
two  yearsat  atremendons  profit,  and  when  no  longer  needed, 
was  sold  to  its  former  owner  at  a  moderate  advance  on  cost. 

The  war  had  now  been  in  progress  for  some  time,  and 
communication  with  the  South  was  practically  closed.  Cot- 
ton, which,  in  the  Confederacy,  was  a  drug  at  twelve  cents  a 
pound,  was  very  scarce  at  the  cotton  centres  of  the  North, 
where  it  sold  readily  at  from  ?i.20  to  $2.00  a  pound.  The 
manufacturers  were  beginning  to  suffer  severely  for  the  want 
of  the  raw  material,  and  many  mills,  whose  owners  could  not 
pay  the  market  price,  were  either  closed  or  converted  into 
woolen  mills. 

Fisk,  with  his  usual  foresight,  had  laid  in  a  large  stock  of 
the  precious  staple  some  time  before  it  reached  its  maximum 
figure,  and  prudently  refused  to  part  with  it  on  any  terms 
when  the  dearth  came.  Every  pound  of  it  was  needed  for 
the  consumption  of  his  mills,  and  although  the  quantity 
stored  was  immense,  he  knew  that  the  great  demand  for  the 
goods  made  by  the  firm  would  exhaust  the  supply  long 
before  the  Federal  forces  would  be  able  to  penetrate  to  the 
cotton  region,  release  the  thousands  of  bales  there  stored, 
and  open  an  avenue  for  its  transmission  to  the  North. 
With  the  readiness  of  a  veteran  speculator,  trained  to  watch, 
record,  and  seize  the  opportunities  of  the  hour,  he  pro- 
posed that  the  firm  should  at  once  begin  the  business  of 
running  cotton  through  the  lines  from  the  Southern  States. 
There   was  but  little  discussion  on  this  point.     Jim  Fisk's 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  33 

plans  had  never  failed.  His  projects,  although  sometimes 
wild,  were  always  feasible.  The  profits  of  the  cotton  specula- 
tion, conducted  as  he  designed,  could  not,  if  the  cotton  could 
be  procured,  prove  other  than  enormous.  None  of  the  staple 
had  as  yet  been  forwarded  to  the  north  ;  the  market  was 
empty  ;  the  demand  was  great.  His  proposition  to  engineer 
the  movement  was  accepted  without  a  question,  and  in  the 
month  of  February,  1862,  Fisk  began  his  operations.  He 
first  established  amicable  relations  with  government  officials 
on  either  side,  by  means  known  only  to  himself  and  them. 
He  sent  down  to  Tennessee  trusted  agents,  shrewd,  bold, 
bi*ave  men,  to  whom  danger  weighed  nothing  in  the  balance 
against  the  prospect  of  splendid  gains.  At  this  time  cotton 
was  being  destroyed  all  over  the  South.  Lovell,  in  command 
at  New  Orleans,  had  ordered  that  all  the  cotton  in  his  de- 
partment should  be  given  to  the  flames,  for  he  knew  that 
Farragut,  then  approaching  the  devoted  city,  would  soon 
have  the  whole  country  under  his  control,  and  would  con- 
sequently be  able  to  furnish  the  factories  of  the  North  with 
millions  of  pounds  which  the  Southerners  were  then  unable 
to  use.  In  Georgia,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  Mississippi, 
and  Tennessee,  immense  quantities  had  already  been  de- 
stroyed ;  but  among  the  planters  there  were  many  shrewd 
enough  to  foresee  that  one  day  their  crops  would  be  worth 
more  in  greenbacks  than  in  ashes,  and  these  had  prudently 
hidden  their  stock  where  the  inspecting  officers  of  the  Con- 
federate government  were  unable  to  find  it.  Their  cupidity 
overcame  their  patriotism,  and  in  time  they  found  their  reward 
for  the  choice  they  had  made  between  principle  and  interest. 
Among  Fisk's  most  able  adjutants  in  the  cotton  specula- 
tion was  his  father,  who  was  the  first  agent  sent  to  Tennessee 
to  survey  the  position  and  report.    A  number  of  sharp  Yankee 


34  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

dealers  were  placed  under  him,  and  in  a  short  time  the  result 
of  their  boldness  and  skill  was  apparent. 

The  first  boat-load  of  cotton  from  Tennessee  to  Pitts- 
burg, during  the  war,  arrived  on  the  22nd  of  April,  1862. 
This  was  a  meagre  cargo,  and  was  forwarded  under  the  care 
of  United  States  officers  and  consigned  to  the  Quartermas- 
ter's Department  at  Washington.  Another  and  another 
followed.  All  at  once  the  supply  began  to  increase  at  a 
rapid  rate.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  bags  and  bales  came 
in,  with  which  the  government  had  nothing  to  do.  These 
were  consigned  to  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  who 
now  became,  for  the  time,  the  cotton  kings  of  the  country. 

During  the  month  of  May,  Fisk  had  run  down  to  Memphis 
to  expedite  affairs.  He  found  everything  going  on  well,  but 
his  ambition  to  work  wonders  in  the  money  world  was  now 
beginning  to  develope  itself,  and  he  resolved  to  redouble  his 
efforts  to  make  himself  felt  as  a  power  in  the  land.  He  had 
gained  the  favor  of  the  administration  at  Washington,  and 
was  supplied  with  unlimited  facilities  for  passing  to  and  from 
the  Federal  camps.  His  passes  had  been  secured  by  Lottie 
Hough,  an  actress,  and  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  woman, 
whose  skill  and  boldness  were  fully  equal  to  the  requirem.ents 
of  the  business  in  which  she  proposed  to  engage.  She 
entered  into  a  regular  partnership  with  Fisk,  took  charge  of 
affairs  at  Memphis,  Nashville,  and  Huntsville,  divided  the 
profits  at  the  end  of  the  war,  and  retired  with  a  fortune. 
The  agents  under  her  were  shrewd  men  and  had  been  fur- 
nished with  immense  sums  with  which  to  make  purchases  of 
cotton.  They  bought  largely,  and  thousands  of  bales  were 
forwarded  to  the  Boston  firm.  The  risk  of  transportation 
was  so  great  at  this  time  that  five  per  cent,  was  charged  for 
insurance  by  companies  at  Boston  and  New  York,  nearly  all 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  $5 

of  whom  lost  heavily,  notwithstanding  their  extravagant 
charges. 

New  Orleans  surrendered  to  Farragut  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1862,  and  on  the  ist  of  May  General  Butler  took 
command  of  the  city.  He  had  not  been  long  there  before 
Fisk  had  his  agents  at  work  in  the  surrounding  country. 
Lovell  had  destroyed  large  quantities  of  the  cotton  stored 
on  the  plantations  of  Louisiana,  particularly  those  along  the 
Mississippi,  but  there  were  thousands  of  bales  safely  stored 
where  the  Confederate  officers  had  not  been  able  to  find 
them,  and  these  were  greedily  bought  up  by  the  energetic 
speculators,  who,  favored  by  certain  government  officials 
high  in  authority,  had  but  little  difficulty,  after  reaching  the 
Federal  lines,  in  getting  their  stock  fairly  on  the  way  to  the 
markets  of  the  North. 

When  the  Red  River  expedition  began  operations,  Fisk 
himself  went  down  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  up  the  river 
to  the  cotton  country  in  which  Banks  was  at  work.  Before 
leaving  the  Crescent  City  he  purchased  the  steamer  Joseph 
Peircc,  to  be  used  as  a  cotton  transport  between  the  river 
country  and  the  city.  She  had  made  several  successful  trips, 
when,  one  day,  while  at  a  wood-landing  she  was  boarded  by 
an  arm}^  officer  who  demanded  transportation  for  himself 
and  a  number  of  soldiers.  The  remonstrances  of  the  captain 
proved  of  no  avail,  and  the  soldiers  took  possession  of  the 
steamer.  They  brought  on  board  with  them  a  large  quantity 
of  cartridges  and  other  fixed  ammunition.  Hardly  had 
the  boat  put  out  from  the  shore  when  there  was  a  terrific 
explosion,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  she  was  a  complete 
wreck.  The  survivors  of  the  explosion  reached  the  shore 
only  after  experiencing  the  greatest  difficulties.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  Fisk  entered  a  claim  against  the  government  for 


36  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

the  value  of  the  steamer  and  her  cargo,  but  it  was  never 
allowed.  The  loss  to  the  firm  by  this  accident  was  nearly 
e35o,ooo. 

Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.  were  now  shipping  to  New  Orleans 
millions  at  a  time  for  the  purchase  of  cotton,  and  were  hon- 
oring almost  daily  sight-drafts  of  from  Si 00,000  to  8500,000. 
Their  receipts  of  cotton  were  immense,  and  their  shipments 
to  Europe  were  sufficiently  liberal  to  keep  many  English 
factories  from  breaking  up,  and  consequently  thousands  of 
operatives  were  continued  in  employment  who  otherwise 
would  have  been  thrown  upon  the  world  to  suffer  for  the 
necessaries  of  life. 

Associated  with  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  were  William 
Dwight  and  Francis  Skinner  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  all  of  whom 
cleared  large  sums  for  a  long  time.  It  was  their  custom  to 
ship  directl}^  from  New  Orleans  to  Liverpool  in  order  to 
create  exchange,  to  pay  for  merchandise  bought  in  Europe 
but  they  continued  also  to  ship  large  quantities  to  the  North, 
where  there  was  always  a  good  market.  It  is  a  notable  fact, 
however,  that  when  a  settlement  was  made,  there  had  been 
so  much  loss  by  fire  and  by  fall  in  price,  that  the  profits  of 
the  Red  River  Cotton  Expedition  were  found  to  be  next  to 
nothing.  The  Memphis,  Nashville  and  Huntsville  specula- 
tions, on  the  contrary,  were  wonderfully  remunerative. 

Before  Banks  left  the  Red  River  country,  Fisk,  embold- 
ened by  his  successes,  became  almost  recklessly  venturesome. 
His  purchases  of  cotton  sometimes  reached  C8oo,ooo  a  day, 
many  of  the  heaviest  transactions  being  conducted  either  by 
himself  or  under  his  own  eye.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occa- 
sion, while  outside  the  Federal  lines,  with  a  wallet  containing 
0250,000  strapped  to  his  shoulders,  he  was  surprised  by  a 
squad  of  rebel  soldiers,  who  appeared  suddenly  at  the  edge 


<  'Ma 


iWltlM'lIlliliS«l/(l/iW/.;ii/fflffl7.WAw 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  39 

of  a  clearing  over  which  he  was-  about  to  pass.  Fisk  was 
already  tired,  and  being  a  stout  man  and  fearful  that,  encum- 
bered as  he  was,  he  would  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands  before 
he  "  could  heat  an  acre,"  he  unstrapped  his  wallet,  threw  it 
down  behind  a  tree,  and  ran  for  dear  life.  On  the  following 
day  there  was  an  advance  of  the  Fcdei'al  forces,  and  the 
spot  on  which  the  valuable  deposit  had  been  made,  was 
under  the  old  flag.  Search  was  made  for  the  wallet  and  the 
quarter  of  a  million  that  it  contained,  but  no  trace  of  it  could 
be  found. 

"  Well,"  said  Fisk,  drawing  a  long  breath,  when  all  hope 
had  fled,  "  I  guess  I'll  sleep  about  as  well  to-night  as  if  I  had 
that  darned  wallet  for  a  pillow.  There  ain't  nothing  the 
matter  with  my  old  tin  oven." 

This  last  expression  was  a  very  common  one  with  the 
eccentric  Fisk.  He  used  it  on  all  occasions  when  he  desired 
to  announce  his  perfect  satisfaction  with  himself;  and  long 
afterward,  when  occupying  his  cosy  quarters  in  the  Erie 
building,  he  was  accustomed  to  check  any  demonstration  of 
ill-humor  on  the  part  of  his  alter  ego,  Jay  Gould,  by  singing 
out,  in  a  cheery  voice,  "  Why,  Gould,  what'n  thunder's  the 
matter  with  your  old  tin  stove  ?" 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  Fisk,  Sr.,  while  actively  engaged 
in  cotton  buying  and  forwarding  in  Tennessee,  was  sun- 
struck.  For  a  long  time  his  life  was  despaired  of,  but  he 
recovered  his  physical  health  on  his  return  to  Boston, 
where  his  son  and  his  daughter-in-law  (for  Fisk,  Jr.,  was  now 
a  married  man)  were  unremitting  in  their  attention  to  the 
sufferer.  As  his  wonted  strength  returned,  it  was  discovered 
that  his  intellect  had  become  much  impaired,  and  following 
the  advice  of  eminent  physicians,  his  son  placed  him  in  an 
insane  as3dum,  where,  supplied  with  all  that  money  could 


40  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

furnish,  and  cared  for  tenderly  by  his  relatives,  the  old  gen- 
tleman soon  recovered.  Fisk,  Jr.,  employed  two  experi- 
enced nurses  to  wait  upon  his  father,  and  spared  no  expense 
to  make  him  comfortable  and  happy,  and  to  insure  his  return 
to  complete  mental  health. 

On  the  Sunday  following  the  battle  of  Antietam,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1862,  the  news  of  that  terrible  conflict  reached 
Boston.  Thousands  of  wounded  and  dying  men  lay  upon 
that  bloody  field,  the  force  of  surgeons  was  insufficient  to 
attend  to  the  pressing  wants  of  the  sufferers,  rations  were 
short,  and  medicines,  bandages  and  luxuries  for  the  victims 
of  the  fight  were  almost  exhausted.  The  meagre  dispatches 
that  reached  Boston  on  that  bright  Sabbath  morning  told  the 
story  of  the  battle,  and  the  one  line  that  announced  the 
scarcity  of  needed  food  and  clothing  among  the  soldiers  of 
both  sides  then  13'ing  v/ithin  our  lines  about  Sharpsburg, 
was  an  appeal  that  touched  the  heart  of  the  erratic  Fisk,  and 
drew  forth  from  him  an  expression  of  sympathy  that  deserves 
to  honor  his  name  forever. 

He  rushed  to  Jordan's  house.  The  bells  were  ringing  lor 
church.  The  streets  were  thronged  with  people  on  their 
way  to  worship. 

"Jordan,"  said  he,  impetuously,  "  can't  nothing  be  done  ? 
Are  them  poor  fellows  to  lay  down  there  suffering  while  we 
people  up  here  enjoy  all  the  comforts  of  life  and  have  lots  to 
spare?     What  can  we  do  to  stir  things  up?" 

"  I  don't  know,  indeed,"  said  Jordan,  pondering. 

"  Well,  I  do  know,"  said  Fisk,  as  he  started  for  the  door. 
"  I'm  going  to  see  if  the  preachers  of  Boston  can't  be  made 
to  preach  God  in  a  new  wa}'  to-day.  It  may  be  wrong  for 
people  to  buy  and  sell  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  making  of 
goose  bridles  I  know  is  a  sin,  but  if  you'll  help  me  I'll  have 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  4I 

more  pious  Sabbath-breaking  done  here  before  sundown 
than  all  the  angels  can  keep  track  of." 

His  plans  were  soon  laid.  Messengers  were  sent  to  all  the 
churches  with  the  request  that,  in  the  name  of  humanity  and 
patriotism,  the  congregations  should  engage  in  the  work  of 
preparing  lint,  bandages,  clothing,  medicines  and  delicacies 
for  the  wounded  on  the  baj;iks  of  the  Antietam,  and  in  the 
hospitals  in  and  around  Sharpsburg. 

To  the  honor  of  the  Bostonians,  be  it  said,  this  suggestion 
was  eagerly  acted  upon.  Nearly  every  man,  woman  and 
child  that  had  anything  to  give,  or  could  scrape  lint  or  make 
and  roll  bandages,  went  into  the  work  with  spirit.  Before 
night  Tremont  Temple  was  a  vast  store-house  of  goods  con- 
tributed by  the  citizens;  and  there,  with  coat  off  and  sleeves 
rolled  up,  with  the  perspiration  streaming  down  his  face, 
was  Jim  Fisk,  giving  orders  here,  helping  to  pack  a  box 
there,  and  everywhere  in  a  minute,  laboring  as  if  for  very 
life.  And  by  common  consent,  every  detail  of  the  business 
was  intrusted  to  him,  and  nobly  did  he  perform  the  self- 
imposed  duty.  That  night,  car-loads  of  supplies  were  on 
their  way  to  the  front,  and  in  a  day  or  two,  thousands  of  suf- 
ferers were  soothed  and  gladdened  by  the  timely  distribution 
of  the  various  comforts  which  had  been  collected  through 
the  efforts  of  the  young  dry-goods  merchant. 

Said  a  gentleman  to  the  author  about  a  month  after  Fisk's 
tragic  death,  when  the  conversation  had  turned  upon  this 
stirring  period  in  our  country's  history:  "I  was  with  Fisk 
all  that  day  and  all  that  night,  and  never  in  m}-  life  have  I 
seen  any  one  throw  his  whole  soul  into  his  work  as  that  man 
did.  He  seemed  to  do  more  in  an  hour  than  any  three  other 
men.  He  had  an  eye  to  ever3thing,  ordered  everythmg, 
controlled  everything.      Everybody   deferred  to  his  judg- 


42  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

ment ;  in  short,  the  movement  was  Jim  Fisk's,  and  it  was  so 
recognized  and  acknowledged." 


CHAPTER    V. 

Fisk's  speculations  were  not  confined  to  cotton.  In  order 
to  create  exchange  to  pay  for  merchandise  imported  by  the 
firm,  he  would  purchase  and  ship  to  Europe  anything  which 
promised  to  yield  a  good  return.  His  shipments  of  butter 
and  cheese  were  sometimes  very  heavy,  and  once  he  sent 
out  by  one  steamer  no  less  than  a  thousand  bales  of  hops,  at 
that  time  in  great  demand  on  the  other  side  of  the  water. 
His  income  from  his  business  and  from  the  various  specula- 
tions in  which  he  engaged  was  now  quite  large,  but  his  style 
of  living  was  ver}^  expensive,  and  his  outlay  in  quiet  charity 
almost  reckless.  From  the  time  that  Fortune  began  to  smile 
upon  him,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  aiding  old  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances in  his  native  State,  in  many  instances  bringing 
school-mates,  playfellows  and  neighbors  to  Boston  and  pro- 
viding them  with  situations  or  setting  them  up  in  business 
for  themselves. 

The  firm  of  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.  was  now  one  of  the 
wealthiest  in  the  country,  and  their  wealth  and  influence 
were  daily  increasing.  Not  only  were  their  transactions 
with  the  Government  among  the  most  gigantic  ;  their  trade 
with  Europe  was  immense ;  their  manufacturing  faciHties 
almost  unequalled,  and  their  power  in  the  markets  of  the 
country  second  to  that  of  none.     All  this  they  owed  to  Fisk, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  43 

the  junior  partner,  who  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  with 
them  as  salesman  had  proved  to  be  incompetent.  His  fore- 
sight, his  knowledge  of  men,  his  remarkable  tact,  his  reckless 
use  of  money  in  the  prosecution  of  a  rapidly-formed  and 
cherished  design,  had  done  more  for  them  than  all  their 
original  capital,  and  they  appreciated  their  colleague.  But 
he  was  becoming  too  strong  for  them.  In  business  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  self-abnegation  with  Fisk.  He  recog- 
nized his  own  strength,  and  never  failed  to  exercise  it  when 
he  evolved  a  plan  of  operations  and  proposed  it ;  he  could 
not  brook  opposition,  for  he  seemed  to  have  a  foreknowl- 
edge that  his  projects  would  be  successes,  and  the  event 
usually  proved  the  accuracy  of  his  judgment.  Little  by  lit- 
tle he  had  gained  such  an  ascendancy  over  his  partners,  that 
they  acted  upon  his  merest  hints  with  a  complete  confi- 
dence, and  rarely  were  they  deceived.  At  last  it  came  to 
be  understood  that  he  could  enter  into  any  negotiation  in 
the  name  of  the  firm  without  going  through  the  formality  of 
a  conference. 

Shortly  after  becoming  a  member  of  the  house  of  Jordan 
Marsh  &  Co.,  an  unfortunate  inventor  called  upon  him  and 
asked  his  assistance  in  pushing  a  patent.  He  described  the 
invention,  explained  its  uses  and  recited  the  story  of  his 
trials  and  his  failures  to  secure  for  the  patent  the  success 
that  he  knew  it  merited.  Fisk  examined  the  model.  It  was 
an  instrument  to  be  used  in  connection  with  woolen  ma- 
chinery, and  the  keen  Vermontcr  at  once  saw  that  it  was  of 
real  value. 

"  I  tell  you  what  I'll  do  with  you,  Goulding,"  said  he,  "  if 
you  can  get  Congress  to  pass  a  bill  i'ov  your  relief,  and  can 
get  seven  years  time  for  this  thing,  I'll  buy  it." 

A  few  months  afterward  lie  purchased  Goulding's  patent, 


44  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

paying  $75,000  for  it  and  taking-  the  risk  of  fighting-  for  it  in 
the  courts.  All  the  woolen  manufacturers  in  the  country- 
were  in  a  combination  to  break  the  patent  and  evade  the 
payment  of  the  royalty,  but  Fisk  fought  them  from  State 
to  State  and  from  court  to  court,  spending  no  less  than 
$400,000  in  legal  expenses  before  the  firm  realized  one  dollar 
on  their  investment.  In  this,  as  in  nearly  everything  else 
that  he  undertook,  he  was  successful,  beating  his  opponents 
in  every  State  except  Pennsylvania,  where  the  celebrated 
"  Goulding  Patent"  case  is  still  undecided. 

The  other  partners  were,  of  course,  pleased  with  their 
success,  for  the  Goulding  patent  proved  to  be  a  mine  of 
wealth.  But,  as  before  remarked,  Fisk  v/as  becoming  too 
strong  for  them.  He  was  overshadowing  the  firm,  and  bade 
fair  to  ignore  his  partners  altogether.  But  what  could  be 
done  to  check  him,  or  to  force  him  into  a  proper  recognition 
of  the  rights  and  claims  of  others?  To  remonstrate,  to  pro- 
test, to  argue  with  him,  they  knew  would  result  in  nothing. 
A  remonstrance  would  be  answered  with  a  joke,  and  surely 
an  argument,  however  logical,  would  not  destroy  the  man's 
individuality.  They  knew  by  this  time  that  Fisk  could  not 
act  a  subordinate  part ;  that  in  whatever  he  engaged,  it  was 
a  requirement  of  his  nature  that  he  should  direct,  control, 
and  command.  Jordan  and  Marsh  therefore  agreed  to  offer 
Fisk  a  fair  price  for  his  share  of  the  business,  and  much  to 
their  surprise  the  offer  was  accepted  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  and  Fisk  with  a  fortune  in  his  pocket  withdrew 
from  the  firm. 

But  he  did  not  remain  idle.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks 
he  laid  in  a  large  stock  of  dry  goods  and  began  business  by 
himself  in  a  splendid  store  at  the  corner  of  Sumner  and 
Chaunccy  streets,  a  short  distance  from  his  old  stand,  Avhere 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  45 

he  had  during  his  four  years'  connection  with  Jordan,  Marsh 
&  Co,  made  name,  fame  and  fortune.  His  new  venture  was 
a  failure.  The  fates  were  against  him.  The  prices  of  dry 
goods  went  down  rapidly,  and  there  was  but  little  trade. 
The  commercial  and  financial  pi'ospects  of  the  countr)^  were 
gloomy.  All  business  was  unsettled,  and  the  shrewdest 
financiers  were  preparing  for  a  crash.  So,  after  a  few  months, 
Fisk  closed  his  store,  paid  all  his  obligations,  and  with  the 
remnant  of  his  capital  entered  upon  an  entirely  new  life, 
that  of  stock  speculator  in  Wall  street. 

Fisk  could  never  be  content  without  making  a  display. 
He  loved  bright  colors  and  elegant  trappings,  and  from  his 
early  boyhood  to  the  day  of  his  death  nothing  suited  him 
that  was  not  the  best  of  its  kind.  "VVhcn  he  rented  an  office 
in  Broad  street  he  fitted  it  up  in  the  most  extravagant  man- 
ner, giving  carte-blancJie  to  the  artists  and  workmen  employed 
to  make  it  the  most  attractive  den  ever  dreamed  of  by  bear 
or  bull.  His  rooms  were  crowded  every  day,  and  all  day 
long,  by  the  gamblers  of  the  street,  who  drank  his  wine  and 
enjoyed  his  jokes,  and — won  his  money.  With  his  custo- 
mary boldness  he  plunged  headlong  into  the  dangerous 
speculations  of  the  street,  but  soon  found  that  he  would  re- 
quire schooling  in  this  branch  of  business  before  he  could 
hope  for  success.  He  was  mercilessly  hugged  by  the  bears, 
and  unceremoniously  tossed  by  the  bulls,  but  with  indomi- 
table pluck  and  a  blind  trust  in  the  possibilities  of  the  future, 
he  held  his  ground  until  the  street  had  swallowed  every 
dollar  of  his  money  and  he  was  ruined. 

"  I'll  be  square  with  you  yet,"  said  he,  as  he  shook  the  dust 
of  Wall  street  from  his  feet  and  took  passage  back  to  Boston. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  now,  Fisk  ?"  said  a  friend  who 
accompanied  him. 


46  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  I'm  going-  to  dog  Boston  a  little.  Then  I  propose  to 
come  back  to  this  den  of  iniquity  and  boss  Wall  street  a  lit- 
tle. Then  I  expect  to  pick  ray  teeth  and  enjoy  myself  a 
little.  But  I've  got  to  hurry  up,  for  as  my  school-teacher 
used  to  tell  us,  '  Thecrastination  is  the  proof  of  Time,'  or 
something  to  that  effect.  I'll  be  back  in  Wall  street  insidt^ 
of  twenty  days,  and  if  I  don't  make  things  squirm  I'll  eat 
nothing  but  bone  button  soup  till  Judgment  Day.  Damn 
'em  !  they'll  learn  to  know  Jim  Fisk  yet !" 

Fisk's  word  was  good  in  Boston.  He  had  never  violated 
a  pledge,  had  never  failed  to  meet  every  obligation,  and 
although  not  personally  respected  by  the  staid  and  sober 
Puritans  of  the  Hub,  was  universally  esteemed  in  business 
circles  as  a  safe  man  to  deal  with.  He  met  his  old  friends 
and  acquaintances,  told  the  story  of  his  discomfiture  with 
many  a  pungent  comment,  and  was  soon  in  funds  again. 
Before  the  rflonth  had  expired,  he  was  once  more  in  Wall 
street,  somewhat  improved  in  experience,  but  no  whit  less 
bold  and  self-confident  than  when  he  first  tried  conclusions 
with  the  veterans  of  the  stock  market. 

Fortune  again  smiled  upon  him.  Nearly  all  his  ventures 
were  successful,  and  "Jim  Fisk's  luck"  became  the  by- word 
of  the  street. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

At  this  time  Daniel  Drew,  the  "  King  of  the  Bears,"  but 
better  known  as  "  Uncle  Daniel,"  was  casting  about  for  cap- 
italists to  purchase  his  Bristol  line  of  steamers.     He  hud 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  47 

heard  a  great  deal  concerning  the  enterprise  and  shrewd- 
ness of  Fisk,  and  determined  to  secure  him  if  possible  as  his 
agent  to  negotiate  the  sale. 

The  two  singular  men  met  at  Fisk's  office,  and  inter- 
changed views  on  the  question  of  steamships,  railroads,  stocks 
and  finance,  and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two  struck  up  a 
friendship  that  promised  to  be  lasting.  The  cunning  old 
millionaire  was  carried  away  with  admiration  for  his  new 
acquaintance.  He  found  him  possessed  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary ability,  with  just  the  kind  of  dash  to  insure  success  in 
an  emergency,  and  with  a  rollicking  bonJiouiie  perfectly  irre- 
sistible. 

"I  think  you'll  do,  Jcems,"  said  Uncle  Daniel.  "Take 
right  hold,  make  a  good  sale,  and  I'll  take  good  keer  of  you." 

"  All  right,  old  man,"  said  Fisk,  heartily,  (they  were  now  on 
the  most  intimate  terms,)  "all  right.  I've  all  along  wanted 
to  go  in  cohoot  with  a  pious  old  cuss  like  you.  I  think  it 
will  do  me  good.  How  are  your  theologs  out  at  Madison? 
If  I  was  only  a  little  younger  I'd  kick  Wall  street  and  take 
a  short  parson  course  out  at  your  seminary." 

"  Now,  Jeems,"  said  Drew,  screwing  up  his  wrinkled  face 
and  speaking  with  his  head  on  one  side  and  his  right  eye 
half  closed — "now,  Jeems,  don't  crack  jokes  on  an  old  man. 
I  skeercely  think  you'd  larn  much  at  Madison.  I  think  your 
spear  is  finance,  and  I  rayther  guess  you  are  of  that  opinion 
yourself." 

"  You  bet !"  was  Fisk's  laconic  but  emphatic  response. 

No  time  was  lost  in  arranging  for  the  sale  of  the  steamers. 
Fisk  entered  into  a  combination  with  Jay  Gould  and  others, 
and  on  the  day  of  the  sale,  when  only  two  of  the  vessels 
composing  the  Bristol  line  were  up,  he  had  them  knocked 
down  to  him  at  $1,300,000. 


48  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"  What  name?"  said  the  auctioneer. 

"  Jim  Fisk,"  was  the  reply. 

The  auctioneer  knew  no  Jim  Fisk  at  that  time  ;  but  when 
the  future  "Admiral  of  the  Sound  Fleet"  marched  up  to  the 
desk  and  presented  a  certified  check  for  $2,000,000,  no  other 
introduction  or  indorsement  was  needed,  and  the  property 
in  the  two  finest  steamers  of  the  Bristol  line  was  duly  made 
over.  A  short  time  afterward  seven  other  steamers  were 
purchased  by  the  same  parties  for  $1,000,000. 

Daniel  Drew  was  then  the  treasurer  of  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  a  heavy  stockholder  in  that  arid  other  vast  enter- 
prises, and  altogether  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  influen- 
tial financiers  in  the  country.  He  had  formed  a  high  esti- 
mate of  Fisk's  abihties,  and  the  consummate  skill  with  which 
he  managed  the  sale  of  the  Bristol  steamers,  and  the  tact 
he  displayed  in  various  other  operations  which  Drew  had 
suggested  and  endorsed,  more  than  confirmed  Uncle  Daniel 
in  his  opinion.  He  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  start 
Fisk  in  a  wide  field  in  which  his  talent  should  have  ample 
scope ;  and  with  this  end  in  view  he  established  the  firm  of 
Fisk  &  Belden,  the  latter  name  being  that  of  one  of  his  fa- 
vorite brokers. 

The  young  firm  soon  made  their  mark  in  Wall  street. 
Prompted  in  nearly  all  their  operations  by  Daniel  Drew, 
than  whom  no  shrewder  and  more  cautious  speculator  ever 
handled  scrip,  they  rarely  failed  to  secure  large  returns  for 
their  investments,  and  besides  adding  largely  to  the  capital 
of  their  patron,  they  increased  their  own  store  by  working 
quietly  on  the  points  with  which  they  were  regularly  fur- 
nished, and  were  not  long  in  becoming  noted  as  among  the 
wisest  stock  gamblers  on  the  street. 

Some  time  in  the  beginning  of  1866  Daniel  Drew  created 


JAMES   riSK,   JR.  49 

an  intense  excitement  by  his  first  great  "  bear"  movement — 
that  is,  a  systematic  movement  to  depress  certain  stocks. 
The  result  was  the  ruin  of  a  large  number  of  operators  not 
in  the  ring,  and  the  enriching  of  those  with  whom  Drew  had 
shared  the  secrets  of  his  plan.  Among  the  latter  were  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  and  his  partner.  Several  of  the  leading  operators 
had  tried  to  foil  the  old  man,  but  his  plans  had  been  too  well 
laid,  and  when  the  day  for  final  action  arrived,  he  and  his 
numerous  aids  achieved  a  most  signal  victory. 

The  slang  of  Wall  street  is  a  technical  dialect,  many  words 
of  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative,  and  therefore  a  few  words  of  explanation  for  the 
unsophisticated  reader  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

When  an  operator  wishes  to  bring  dov/n  the.  price  of  a 
given  stock,  he  is  said  to  "  bear"  it,  and  is  called  a  "  bear." 

When  he  desires  to  advance  the  price  of  a  stock,  they  say 
on  the  street  that  he  "  bulls"  it,  that  is,  tosses  it  up,  as  the 
taurine  creature  does  little  boys  with  his  horns. 

Smitli,  who  has  been  dabbling  in  Squankum  Railroad 
Stock,  is  strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  price, 
now  lOO,  is  about  to  come  down.  Jones,  an  the  other  hand, 
is  sure  of  a  rise.  Smith  has  disposed  of  all  his  stock,  and 
Jones  is  anxious  to  get  as  much  of  it  as  he  can.  He  calls 
upon  Smith  and  bargains  with  him  for  looo  shares  at  loo,  to 
be  delivered  in  a  certain  time.  Smith  is  now  said  to  be 
"  short"  of  Squankum,  because  he  has  bound  himself  to  sell 
at  a  certain  time  and  a  fixed  price,  an  amount  of  the  stock 
which  he  does  not  own;  and  Jones  is  "long,"  because  he 
has  agreed  to  take  the  stock  at  that  price. 

Now  Smith  must  buy  of  some  one  who  holds  the  stock, 
but,  as  it  will  not  pay  him  to  purchase  at  lOO  and  sell  at  the 
same  price,  he  waits  to  see  whether  the  stock  will  fall,  and. 


50  LIFE   AND   TIMZS   OF 

of  course,  does  all  he  can  to  bring  about  that  fall.  Suppose 
Squankum  runs  down  to  75,  Smith  buys  1000  shares  at  75 
and  turns  them  over  to  J  wes  at  100,  receiving  in  cash  for 
his  profits,  $25,000.  If  Squankum,  on  the  contrary,  goes  up 
to  125,  instead  of  falling  to  75,  Smith  loses  $25,000,  for  he 
must  still  deliver  to  Jones  at  100  as  per  agreement. 

When  a  heav)'  operator  wishes  to  make  a  "  corner"  in 
stocks,  he  makes  contracts  with  a  number  of  brokers  to 
deliver  to  him  within  a  certain  time,  say  100,000  sh^ires  of 
stock  at  a  certain  price.  Perhaps  there  are  only  60,000 
shares  of  that  stock  in  the  field.  He  goes  to  work  quietly, 
buys  all  of  that  stock  at  the  lowest  possible  figure,  and 
locks  it  up.  The  "  shorts"  who  have  agreed  to  furnish  him 
with  100,000  shares,  are  now  at  his  mercy.  Their  agree- 
ment must  be  fulfilled  or  they  must  be  dishonored.  They 
therefore  seek  the  operator  at  the  end  of  the  time  which  had 
been  agreed  upon  for  the  deHvery  of  the  stock,  and  either  pay 
him  in  cash  Avhat  he  demands,  or  make  such  other  terms  as 
he  is  willing  to  agree  to. 

The  buying  and  selling  of  stocks  or  other  securities, 
when  done  by  professional  dealers  among  themselves,  does 
not  require  the  transfer  of  money.  The  largest  operations 
are  conducted  without  the  use  of  a  dollar  of  cash.  If  Jones 
and  Smith  are  accustomed  to  deahng  together,  they  simply 
make  memoranda  of  sale  and  purchase,  and  come  to  a  set- 
tlement at  any  time  most  convenient  to  both. 

If  Robinson,  a  merchant,  desires  to  purchase  stock  for 
speculation,  he  goes  to  Smith  or  Jones  the  broker,  and  pays 
him  a  small  percentage  on  the  cost  of  the  stock.  Suppose 
he  orders  1000  shares  of  Rock  Hill  at  100.  Instead  of  pay- 
ing $100,000  cash,  he  deposits  $5,000,  $10,000  or  $20,000,  as 
the  case  may  be— just  enough  to  cover  any  probable  fall  in  the 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  5 1 

price  of  Rock  Hill  within  a  given  time.  This  deposit  is 
called  the  "margin."  The  broker  purchases  the  stock, 
charging  his  customer  interest  on  the  difference  between  the 
deposit  and  $100,000,  holds  the  stock  as  security,  and  "car- 
ries" it  until  ordered  to  sell.  If  the  price  goes  down  the 
customer  loses  his  margin.  If  it  rises  the  broker  pays  him 
back'the  deposit  together  with  the  percentage  on  the  invest- 
ment. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

In  the  early  part  of  1866  Daniel  Drew  had  provided  him- 
self with  58,000  shares  of  new  Erie  stock.  It  had  been 
placed  in  his  hands  as  collateral  security  for  money  furnished 
by  Drew  to  the  Erie  Railwa}^  Company,  the  directors  never 
dreaming  that,  crafty  as  they  knew  the  old  man  to  be,  he 
would  ever  throw  this  stock  upon  the  market.  But  he  did. 
It  was  his  sharpest  weapon  in  the  "  bear"  movement  spoken 
of  in  the  preceding  chapter.  After  "  bearing"  Erie  stock 
from  95  to  50,  by  flooding  the  market  with  the  new  issue,  he 
bought  his  collateral  back  at  50,  and  held  himself  ready  for 
another  strike. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1867,  an  election  of  ot"ficers  of  the 
Erie  Railway  Company  was  held.  There  were  three  parties 
in  the  field.  The  old  officers  headed  by  Daniel  Drew,  with 
whom  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  was  now  thoroughly  identified,  had 
no  intention  to  relinquish  their  power,  and  were  determined 
by  hook  or  by  crook  to  secure  a  reelection.     Cornelius  Van- 


52  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

derbilt,  already  owning  and  controlling  three  of  the  greatest 
roads  in  the  country,  was  ambitious  to  take  Erie  also  in  his 
grasp,  and  thus  become  the  railroad  monarch  of  the  United 
States,  and  he  had  a  strong  following.  John  S.  Eldridge 
and  Jay  Gould,  largely  interested  in  the  Boston,  Hartford 
and  Erie  Railroad,  then  in  a  desperate  struggle  for  existence, 
headed  the  third  party.  The  Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie 
road  had  its  eastern  terminus  at  Boston,  and  connected  with 
a  branch  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  road  at  Fishkill,  New 
York,  and  promised  to  become  in  time,  if  properly  managed, 
one  of  the  best  paying  roads  in  the  country.  On  application 
to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  by  the  Directors  of  the 
road,  that  body  had  voted  to  give  the  company  the  sum  of 
$3,000,000  provided  the  additional  sum  of  $4,000,000  was 
raised  elsewhere.  The  main  incentive,  then,  of  the  Eldridge 
party,  to  secure  a  foothold  in  the  Erie  management  was  to 
obtain  from  this  wealthy  corporation  the  $4,000,000  so  badly 
needed  to  float  their  own. 

Eldridge,  prompted  by  Jay  Gould,  then  as  now  acknowl- 
edged to  be  one  of  the  keenest  diplomatists  in  business 
circles,  approached  Commodore  Vanderbilt  and  proposed  a 
coalition,  to  insure  tfie  downfall  of  the  Drew  party.  The 
Commodore  had  not  forgotten  certain  mortifications  he  had 
experienced  on  account  of  Uncle  Daniel,  and  his  love  for 
the  sanctimonious  speculator  was  not  of  that  double  and 
twisted  kind  which  precludes  the  possibihty  of  wearing 
out. 

"  Damn  the  innocent  face  of  that  old  hypocrite,"  roared 
the  Commodore,  as  he  brought  his  ponderous  fist  down 
upon  his  desk  with  a  bang  that  shook  the  house,  "  I'll  whip 
him  if  it  costs  me  a  leg." 

The  coalition  was  formed,  and  the  factions  were  drawn  out 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  53 

in  line  of  battle,  each  confident  of  victory.  Numerical 
strength  was  on  the  Vanderbilt-Eldridge  side,  but  the  two 
leaders  well  knew  that  the  enemy  was  shrewd  and  crafty, 
that  he  had  traversed  every  inch  of  the  ground,  and  that  he 
was  too  fertile  in  resources  to  allow  himself  to  be  badly  beaten 
without  a  Hvely  fight,  after  bringing  into  play  the  full  force 
of  his  wonderful  strategic  faculty.  To  block  the  favorite 
game  of  the  wily  Drew  the  opposition  had  prcHminary 
affidavits  and  other  papers  prepared  with  the  view  to  having 
an  injunction  issued  enjoining  Drew  from  using  at  the 
election  any  of  the  shares  of  stock  not  belonging  to  the 
already  authorized  capital  stock  of  the  Company. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  here  that  at  the  election  the 
share-holders  cast  a  vote  for  each  share  of  stock  held,  and 
the  majority  of  the  stock  would,  of  course,  carry  the  election. 
In  addition  to  his  shares  of  the  original  stock  of  the  Com- 
pany, Daniel  Drew  held,  as  before  mentioned,  the  58,000 
shares  of  the  new  issue,  which  he  had  received  as  collateral 
secui-ity  for  a  loan,  and  on  which  he  had  already  cleared  a 
fortune.  To  prevent  the  use  of  this  extra  stock  was  the 
object  of  Vanderbilt  and  Eldridge  in  trying  to  obtain  an  in- 
junction from  the  Courts. 

Drew  was  not  to  be  completely  foiled.  He  soon  learned 
of  the  movements  and  plans  of  his  enemies,  and  on  the  Sun- 
day preceding  the  election,  after  having  engaged  in  his 
customary  devotions  at  his  favorite  church,  he  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Commodore,  who  could  not  have  been  more  surprised  at 
the  entrance  of  the  ghost  of  his  sloop  JNIary  Jane  under 
double  reefed  mainsail,  than  at  the  appearance  of  his  wrinkled 
and  stoop-shouldered  opponent. 

But  the  visitor  was  pleasantly  received  in  the  splendid 
parlors  on  Washington  Square ;  for  the  Commodore,  rough 


54  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

as  he  is  in  the  marts  of  trade,  is  a  thorough  gentleman  at 
home,  and  Hkes  nothing  better  than  to  dispense  hospitaHty 
with  a  liberal  hand  and  a  cheerful  voice. 

"  Commodore,"  said  Drew,  with  a  whine,  "'  I  find  that  you 
and  them  Eldridge  people  are  trying  to  kill  me.  Now,  do 
you  think  it's  fair  to  wopk  a  ring  agin  an  old  man  like 
me?" 

"  Uncle  Dan,  you  are  no  older  than  I  am,  and  it  strikes  me 
that  3^ou  cannot  have  forgotten  the  rings  you  have  worked 
against  me.  You  are  even  now  trying  to  worry  me  out  of 
Erie  by  one  of  your  damned  tricks." 

"  Don't  swear.  Commodore,  don't  swear.  And  don't  lose 
your  temper.     Be  cool,  now,  and  let's  talk  this  thing  over." 

"  Sail  on.  Uncle  Dan,"  said  the  Commodore. 

"  "Well,  you  are  agoing  to  get  out  an  injunction  agin  me  to 
prevent  me  from  votin'  on  them  58,000  shares.  You  may 
be  right,  and  then  agin  you  may  be  wrong.  We'll  say  nothin' 
ai)Out  that.  You  sail  your  own  boat.  What  I  want  to  say 
is  jest  this  here.  You  and  me  needn't  be  afeard  of  them 
Eldridge  people — " 

"  What  the  hell  do  you  mean?"  said  the  Commodore.  ''/ 
afraid  of  the  Eldridge  people  !     I  think  not,  you  old  fool !" 

"  No,  you  don't  understand  me.  To  come  to  the  pint.  If 
we  work  together  we  can  drive  these  fellows  out  into  the 
cold.  I  can't  afford  to  give  up  my  position  in  the  ^Erie 
management,  and  if  I  retain  it  I  can  help  you  in  more  ways 
than  one." 

An  agreement  was  entered  into.  Drew  pledged  himself  to 
unite  with  Vanderbilt  in  advancing  Erie  stock,  and  Vander- 
bilt  promised  to  aid  in  keeping  Drew  in  his  position  as 
treasurer  and  director  of  the  Erie  Company.  This  act  of 
treachery  to  the  Eldridge  party  brought  down  upon  Vander- 


DAXIKL    DKEW. 


JAMES  riSK,   JR.  57 

bilt's  head  such  torrents  of  wrath  as  only  he  could  stem. 
Eldridgc,  with  face 

"  White  as  the  lips  of  the  clifF-chafed  sea. 
Pale  with  its  tiJal  passion," 

and  Gould,  boiling  over  with  rage,  called  upon  the  Com- 
modore when  the  tidings  of  the  new  combination  were 
brought  to  them. 

*' Gentlemen,"  said  the  Commodore,  mildly,  "  Uncle  Dan 
and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  had  better  haul 
in  your  horns.  I  am  sorry  that  you  were  not  here  three  hours 
ago  to  hear  how  piously  the  old  man  talked,  and  with  what 
a  hell-fired  lot  of  Christian  arguments  he  backed  up  his  pro- 
position. It  would  have  done  you  good,  gentlemen,  it  would 
have  done  you  good.  He  was  so  mild  and  placid,  so  dif- 
erent  from  you,  Eldridge.  You  ought  to  take  lessons  of  the 
good  old  man.  It  would  m.ake  you  better.  But  suppose  we 
":o  around  and  see  Dan,  and  talk  this  thino^  over." 

A  carriage  was  called,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  trio  were 
ushered  into  Drew's  parlor,  where  the  old  man  soon  joined 
them,  his  face  wreathed  with  smiles.  He  was  so  glad  to  see 
them ! 

•'  Now,  Uncle  Dan,"  said  Vanderbilt,  after  the  compliments 
of  the  day  had  been  passed,  ''  tell  us  about  it.  These  young 
men  want  to  hear  from  your  own  lips  why  in  hell  you  have 
seduced  me  from  my  allegiance  to  the  original  combination. 
Tell  them  all  about  it." 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  placid  old  intriguer  with  a  quiet 
smile,  "self-preservation  is  the  fust  law  of  natur.  I  had  no 
idee  of  getting  beat,  and  I  thought  that  in  order  to  git  the 
best  of  your  combination  I'd  break  your  lines.  Well,  I  done 
it,  and  that's  all  I  have  to  say  about  it.  I'm  sorry  for  you, 
4 


58  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

indeed  I  am.     But  (with  a  smile)  it  couldn't  be  helped,  it 
couldn't  be  helped," 

A  long  discussion  ensued.  Gould,  the  cautious,  soon  dis- 
covered that  threats  would  avail  nought  against  so  fearless  a 
veteran  as  Vanderbilt,  and  so  crafty  a  trickster  as  Drew ;  so 
with  a  nod  to  Eldridge  he  "  drew  in  his  horns,"  and  was  fol- 
lowed at  once  by  his  companion.  The  Sunday's  work  was 
brought  to  a  close  at  a  late  hour  by  a  solemn  agreement  that 
there  should  be  peace  between  the  contending  forces,  that 
Drew  was  to  continue  in  the  Erie  management,  that  Eldridge 
should  be  made  the  President  of  the  Company,  that  Vander- 
bilt's  orders  should  be  obeyed  in  regard  to  the  running  of  the 
road,  that  Eldridge's  road,  the  Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie, 
should  have  the  ?4,ooo,ooo  needed  to  secure  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  appropriations,  that  Erie  stock  should  be  ad- 
vanced, and  that  Wall  street  should  be  made  to  bleed 
copiously  for  the  support  of  these  corporations  and  the 
honorable  gentlemen  who  wielded  them. 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  59 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

"There  be  quips  and  quirks,  Artabal,  among  thcni  which  overmuch  prac- 
ty7e  deceitc;  and  verily,  they  which  do  most  boldly  lie,  when  that  their 
memorie  is  less  in  longncsse  than  their  tongue,  they  do  nieete  oftcimes  with 
somedeal  sorrowe.  When  thou  thievest,  Artabal,  see  that  thou  say  no  word 
to  no  man  touching  thy  deed,  till  that  the  judge  hath  thee  in  bonds  to  pleade. 
Then  lie  ihce  black  in  the  face.  When  that  thou  betrayest  thy  fellow,  dig 
for  him  a  deepe  pit  in  the  whiche  he  may  fall,  never  more  to  come  forth 
therefrom  other  than  as  dead  ;  for  truly,  he  being  a  liar,  will,  if  he  be  lefte 
amongst  the  quicke,  betray  thee,  and  lo,  thou  art  done  for  !" — BackeCs  Old 
Buckle. 

In  order  to  escape  a  great  deal  of  unpleasantness,  as  well 
as  to  retain  a  place  in  the  confidence  of  their  constituency 
whom  they  had  betrayed,  the  Eldridge  men  furthermore 
agreed  at  this  remarkable  meeting  of  Mammonites  on  that 
starry  Sabbath  eve,  that  they  would  support  the  nominees 
of  the  Ring,  omitting  the  name  of  Daniel  Drew ;  and  that 
one  of  their  directors,  chosen  at  the  election,  should  imme- 
diately resign,  whereupon  the  other  directors  should  at  once 
fill  the  vacancy  by  electing  Uncle  Daniel. 

The  election  was  held.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  and  Jay  Gould 
were  chosen  as  Directors,  and  so  was  Mr.  Underwood,  the 
gentleman  selected  by  the  Erie  Ring  to  resign  in  favor  of 
Daniel  Drew,  a  duty  which  he  performed  with  alacrity  a  few 
minutes  after  his  election,  and  for  the  performance  of  which 
he  no  doubt  "  impetticosed  a  gratility"  proportioned  to  the 
service  he  had  rendered  the  pious  speculator. 

When  Wall  street  heard  that  the  great  "  King  of  the 
Bears"  had  been  defeated,  great  was  the  excitement.     The 


6o  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

cubs  of  the  street  hung  their  heads  and  howled  with  anguish, 
but  the  bulls  bellowed  with  delight,  and  up  went  Erie  stock 
like  a  rocket.  But  in  the  next  hour  there  came  the  tidings 
that  Underwood,  the  pliant  tool  of  the  Ring,  had  resigned, 
and  that  Daniel  Drew  was  again  in  power  in  the  Erie  man- 
agement. The  horns  of  the  bulls  were  no  longer  exalted. 
The  big  bears  and  the  young  cubs  of  the  street  hugged  each 
other  and  rubbed  noses  for  very  joy.  Erie  fell  more  than 
three  per  cent,  that  day,  and  more  than  one  operator's  fingers 
were  scorched. 

The  Drew  Ring,  composed  of  a  few  choice  spirits,  now 
made  preparations  to  "  bull"  the  stock  under  the  direction 
of  Daniel  Drew.  To  the  old  "  bear"  the  whole  business  of 
mapping  out  the  campaign  and  disposing  of  the  forces,  and 
fighting  the  battles,  was  confidingly  intrusted.  The  con- 
spirators bought  largely  at  70,  believing,  in  their  innocence, 
that  Uncle  Daniel  could  not  fail  to  lead  them  to  a  fruitful 
victory. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1867,  Drew's  plans  having  been 
laid,  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the'  grand  coup.  Erie 
was  bought  in  large  quantities  by  those  in  the  secret.  Down 
went  the  stock,  and  then  up  again,  and  down  again,  for  a 
month  or  more,  in  spasmodic  vibrations,  like  the  movements 
of  a  crazy  pendulum.     Uncle  Daniel  seemed  bewildered. 

"  I  never  seen  sich  a  queer  performance  in  my  life,"  said 
Uncle  Daniel.  "  But  keep  on  buying,  boys,  for  it's  sartain  to 
raise.     Don't  be  skeered." 

Up  went  the  stock  again,  and  confidence .  was  restored. 
The  Ring  became  jubilant,  and  invested  wildly.  Down  it 
fell  again,  and  the  consternation  and  alarm  among  the  con- 
spirators was  intense.  Their  "  long"  contracts  were  nearly 
matured,  and  ruin  stared  many  of  them  in  the  face.     But 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  6l 

they  had  Daniel  Drew  behind  them.  When  money  was 
needed  to  put  up,  Drew  advanced  it  from  the  common  fund, 
and  the  game  went  on.  But  the  stock  continued  to  fall. 
Suspicion  at  last  fell  upon  the  leader  of  the  Ring,  and  after 
keen  investigation  the  confederates  were  thunderstruck  at 
the  discovery  that  the  stock  they  had  been  purchasing  had 
been  furnished  by  Drew's  own  brokers!  The  church  foun- 
der had  violated  his  solemn  pledge,  and  had  betrayed  his 
fellows,  by  going  back  to  his  first  love,  and  "  bearing"  the 
stock  instead  of  "  bulling"  it. 

The  old  man's  point  had  been  gained.  He  had  bought 
heavily  when  the  price  was  low  ;  when  it  rose  he  had  not 
only  advanced  money  with  which  to  purchase,  but  had  even 
furnished  the  stock.  He  crammed  the  market  till  every- 
body held  as  much  Erie  as  he  could  carry,  and  then  when 
the  price  went  down  he  bought  again.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  and 
Jay  Gould  were  the  only  operators  in  the  secret  except 
Drew  himself  and  his  own  brokers. 

When  the  truth  became  generally  known.  Drew  called  his 
confederates  together. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  old  man,  blandly,  "  I  thought  as 
how  it  mought  be  well  for  us  to  meet  to-day  in  order  to 
come  to  a  settlement.  Things  is  not  quite  so  bad  as  many 
of  you  supposes.  For  sartain  reasons  of  my  own  I  found  it 
necessary  for  to  alter  my  original  plan  that  was  formed  fust 
off,  and  to  let  you  know  nothing  about  it.  I  know  that 
some  of  you  has  been  worried,  but  you  needn't  worry  any 
longer,  I  have  made  mighty  good  use  of  the  fund,  and  am 
now  able  to  make  a  fair  division  of  the  profits." 

Vanderbilt  had  been  badly  sold.  His  quondam  ally,  who, 
with  many  whines  and  hand-wringings,  had  begged  for  his 
cooperation,  had  played  the  traitor.     The  "  Railroad  King' 


62  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

had  met  his  match,  and  his  strongest  objurgations  failed  to 
express  his  anger,  or  to  do  justice  to  the  various  other  un- 
pleasant feelings  that  struggled  for  utterance.  He  vowed 
vengeance  against  Drew,  and  swore  by  everything  good 
and  bad,  from  Jupiter  to  the  Furies,  from  Olympus  to  Hades, 
that  he  would  not  rest  until  Erie  should  be  added  to  the 
string  of  railroad  pearls  that  shone  in  his  casket  of  gems. 

His  first  move  was  a  wretched  failure.  He  dictated  to 
the  Board  of  Directors  in  regard  to  the  management  of  the 
road,  but  the  Bezonians  had  chosen  their  king,  and  Vander- 
bilt  was  not  his  name.  They  quietly  snubbed  the  Commo- 
dore, and  he  was  then  forced  to  admit  to  himself  that  his 
power  was  broken. 

It  was  not  in  his  nature  to  remain  in  the  condition  of  a 
defeated  man.  He  had  started  in  life  as  a  boatman  at  the 
Whitehall  stairs,  had  run  a  shilling  ferry  to  Staten  Island, 
and  was  now,  perhaps,  the  wealthiest  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  hale  and  hearty,  although  more  than  three  score  and 
ten,  and  with  a  will  that  nothing  could  subdue.  He  knew 
no  fear,  but  held  with  the  old  poet,  that, 

"  When  desperate  ills  demand  a  speedy  cure. 
Distrust  is  treason,  and  forbearance,  folly." 

The  Commodore  lost  no  time.  Having  succeeded  in 
winning  Jay  Gould  over  to  him,  he  formed  a  new  combina- 
tion to  send  Erie  stock  up  again.  The  work  was  begun 
without  delay,  and  the  stock  rose  rapidly.  Daniel  Drew 
was  to  all  appearances  more  bewildered  than  during  the 
season  of  his  last  "  bearing"  campaign,  when  Erie  would  go 
up  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  keep  it  down.  But  his  bewilder- 
•ment  did  not  shake  the  old  man's  faith  in  himself.  He  went 
"  short"  on   Eric   with   a   recklessness  that  astounded  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  63 

wildest  dealers,  and  it  soon  became  evident  to  Vanderbilt 
that  his  cunning  enemy's  bewilderment  was  only  the  out- 
ward and  visible  mask  that  covered  an  inward  and  devilish 
design  to  circumvent  his  foes  by  a  new  trick  fished  up  from 
his  exhaustless  repository. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Drew  was  now  the  holder  of  58,000  shares  of  Erie  stock, 
28,000  of  which  were  issued  to  him  in  May,  1866,  together 
with  $3,000,000  of  bonds  which  he  had  converted  into  com- 
mon stock  at  60  cents  on  the  dollar.  With  this,  his  collat- 
eral, and  with  the  shares  which  he  had  obtained  by  con- 
verting $2,000,000  of  bonds  of  the  Buffalo,  Bradford  and 
Pittsburg  Railroad  into  Erie  stock,*  he  did  not  fear  to  cope 
with  the  Vanderbilt  combination,  of  whose  movements  he 
was  fully  aware. 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1868,  the  celebrated  -case  of 
Frank  Work  against  Daniel  Drew  and  others,  was  opened 
before  Judge  George  G.  Barnard,  in  Supreme  Court  Cham- 
bers, New  York.  The  plaintiff,  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
Erie  Railway  Company,  sued  Uncle  Daniel,  his  co-director 
and  the  Company  itself,  to  compel  the  former  to  return  to  the 

*  This  road  Drew  and  other  Erie  Directors  had  purchased  for  a  song  in  r866. 
They  then  issued  its  bonds  for  $2,000,000,  and  leased  it  to  the  Erie  Company 
for  a  heavj'  sum.  By  taking  from  the  Erie  pocket  the  money  with  which  to 
pay  the  lease,  they  cleared  annually  nearly  60  per  cent-  of  their  investment. 
The  bonds  of  the  B.  B.  and  P.  Railroad  were  turned  in,  Erie  bonds  issued  foi 
thera,  and  these  converted  into  Erie  stock. 


64  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Company  58,000  shares  of  stock,  and  to  prevent  the  latter 
from  releasing  the  Compan)-'s  claim  on  Drew. 

The  allegations  of  the  complaint  were,  substantially,  that 
in  JNIay,  1866,  the  duly  issued  stock  of  the  Company  was 
about  ^25,000,000,  and  that  at  that  time  they  had  the  right  to 
issue  28,000  shares  more,  merely  for  construction  purposes ; 
that  at  that  time  Drew,  being  then  a  Director,  and  a  member 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  being  largely  short  of 
Erie,  at  from  96  to  70,  (averaging  about  90),  got  the  Directors 
to  issue  to  him  these  28,000  shares  and  bonds  for  83,000,000, 
convertible  at  pleasure  into  stock  for  60  cents  on  the  dollar, 
the  money  advanced  to  be  payable  in  two  years,  with  inter- 
est ;  that  Drew  at  once  converted  his  bonds  into  stock,  thus 
getting  immediate  control  of  58,000  shares  to  fill  his  short 
contracts,  and  to  use  in  speculation  ;  that  he  had,  in  using 
his  bonds  in  this  way,  more  than  made  the  60  per  cent,  ad- 
vanced, with  interest ;  and  that,  as  the  transaction  was 
fraudulent,  (he  having  been  at  the  time  a  Director  of  the 
Company,  and  the  contract  having  been  made  for  his  benefit,) 
Drew  should  account  to  the  Company  for  all  his  profits  on 
the  transaction,  and  return  the  stock  to  the  Company,  to  the 
end  that  the  30,000  shares,  or  $3,000,000  bonds,  be  destroyed, 
and  the  28,000  shares  be  applied  to  their  legitimate  object. 

On  the  sworn  complaint.  Judge  Barnard  granted  the  fol- 
lowing injunction : 

"  It  appearing  to  my  satisfaction  from  the  complaint  in  this 
action,  and  the  affidavit  thereto  attached,  that  sufficient 
ground  for  this  order  exists,  I  do  hereby  order  that  the 
defendants  in  this  action  do  absolutely  desist  and  refrain  from 
paying  out  of  any  of  the  funds  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  to 
Daniel  Drew  any  part  of  the  principal  or  interest  of  certain 
moneys  amounting  to  the  sum  of  v3,45o,ooo,  or  thereabouts, 


JAME5   FISK,   JR.  6$ 

which  were  received  by  said  Company  at  divers  times,  and 
during  the  year  1866,  from  the  said  Daniel  Drew,  as  a  loan 
or  advance  of  60  per  cent,  upon  28,000  shares  of  common 
stock,  and  ^3,000,000  worth  of  convertible  bonds  of  said  Com- 
pany ;  also  from  releasing,  or  in  any  manner  discharging,  or 
attempting  to  release  or  discharge  the  said  Daniel  Drew  from 
any  liability  which  he  may  have  incurred  to  said  Erie  Rail- 
way Company,  or  from  any  cause  of  action  which  the  said 
Company  may  have  against  him. 

"  And  I  do  further  order  that  such  of  the  defendants  herein 
as  are  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  said  Company  do  absolutely  desist  and  refrain 
from  authorizing  or  consenting  to  any  such  payment  or  re- 
lease, or  any  settlement  of  accounts  between  said  Company 
and  said  Daniel  Drew,  or  any  compromise  of  anv  of  the  mat- 
ters embraced  in  the  complaint,  or  any  disposition  of  the 
58,000  shares  obtained  by  said  Drew  from  said  Company, 
other  than  the  delivery  of  the  said  shares  to  said  Company ; 
and  I  do  further  order  that  said  Drew  do  in  like  manner  de- 
sist and  refrain  from  demanding  or  receiving  from  said  Com- 
pany the  payment  of  the  principal  or  interest  of  the  said  ad- 
vances to  said  Company,  or  any  part  thereof,  and  from  taking 
any  proceedings  at  law  or  otherwise  for  the  collection  of  said 
principal  or  interest,  or  any  part  thereof,  or  for  the  foreclos- 
ure of  any  lien  which  he  may  have,  or  claim  to  have,  upon 
any  stocks  or  bonds  of  said  Company  as  securit}'  for  said  ad- 
vances, imtil  the  account  between  him  and  the  said  Company 
of  and  concerning  the  dealings  set  forth  in  the  complaint  in 
this  action  shall  have  been  judicially  settled  and  the  balance 

thereof  ascertained. 

"  George  G.  Barnard, 

"  Jjistice  Supreme  Court." 


66  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

This  injunction  was  sued  for  b}-  Frank  Work;  but  it  was 
a  well  known  fact  that  the  main-spring  of  the  movement  was 
the  irate  Commodore  Vanderbilt. 

On  the  19th  of  February  Judge  Barnard  issued  a  second 
order  suspending  Drew  from  the  Erie  Directory  and 
from  his  office  as  Treasurer,  and  ordering  him  to  appear 
and  show  cause  why  he  should  not  be  permanently  re- 
moved. 

The  Courts  were  kept  busy  with  the  Drew  case  for  some 
time,  and  many  strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  Uncle  Dan- 
iel's counsel  to  have  the  injunction  dissolved,  but  in  vain. 
On  the  28th  of  February,  Frank  Work  gave  additional  facts 
in  verification  of  the  petition  presented  on  the  19th,  which 
may  be  thus  briefly  set  forth  : 

"  The  last  election  of  Directors  of  the  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany was  held  on  the  8th  of  October,  1867.  Deponent  was 
elected  as  one  of  the  Directors,  but  Daniel  Drew  was  not. 
Immediately  after  the  election,  and  on  the  same  da}^,  Mr. 
Underwood,  one  of  the  newly  elected  Directors,  resigned, 
and  said  Daniel  Drew  was  elected  by  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  that  resignation,  and 
was  also  elected  Treasurer  of  the  Company.  Deponent  was 
present  at  that  meeting  of  the  Board.  Deponent  knows  of 
said  Drew's  having  obtained  from  the  Company  the  58,000 
shares  mentioned,  from  having  frequently  heard  Drew  speak 
of  having  obtained  them.  Deponent  further  says  that  he 
has  seen  the  reports  of  the  Directors  of  said  Company  to  the 
stockholders  for  the  years  ending  December  31,  1865,  De- 
cember 31,  1866,  and  September  30,  1867,  which  reports  were 
published  by  authority  of  said  Directors,  and  purported  to 
exhibit  all  the  outstanding  stock  of  said  Company,  common 
and  preferred  ;  that  in  all  of  said  reports  the  issue  of  said 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  67 

58,000  shares  of  stock  is  wholly  suppressed,  and  said  reports 
contain  no  mention  of  said  shares.  Deponent  further  says, 
that  it  has  been  for  a  long  time  past,  and  is  now  matter  of 
common  notoriety  among  dealers  in  the  New  York  Stock 
Market,  that  Daniel  Drew  is  and  has  been  largely  'short' 
of  the  stock  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  ;  that  the  dealers 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  transacting  his  stock  business  have 
for  a  long  time  past  been  large  sellers  of  that  stock  and  large 
borrowers  of  the  same  for  delivery  ;  and  from  the  knowledge 
which  deponent  has,  and  has  for  a  long  time  past  had,  of  the 
transactions  in  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  in  which 
deponent  is  a  large  dealer,  deponent  believes  that  the  said 
Daniel  Drew  has  not  only  sold  and  parted  with  the  58,000 
shares  so  obtained  from  the  said  Company,  but  that  he  is 
*  short'  a  large  amount  in  addition.  Deponent  further  says, 
that  he  knows  that  Daniel  Drew  has  been  for  a  long  time 
past  in  efforts  to  depress  the  market  value  of  the  stock  of 
said  Company  ;  that  he  has  circulated  rumors  disparaging 
to  the  credit  of  said  Compan}^  and  has,  for  some  months  past, 
in  deponent's  presence,  on  various  occasions,  publicly  pro- 
claimed that  the  stock  of  said  Company  would  sell  at  lower 
rates  than  those  at  which  it  was  selling  at  the  time  of  said 
declarations,  and  that  it  has  been  for  some  months  past  gen- 
erally understood  in  the  New  York  Stock  Market  that  said 
Drew  was  *  bearing'  the  stock  of  said  Company,  which  is  a 
technical  term  signifying  that  he  is  speculating  for  a  fall  in 
the  price  thereof. 

"Deponent  further  says,  that  early  in  February,  1868,  it 
was  reported  in  Wall  street  that  the  Erie  Railway  Company 
were  issuing  additional  stock  ;  that  deponent,  having  attend- 
ed every  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  since  his  elec- 
tion, and  not  having  learned  of  any  such  issue,  called  upon 


68  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Daniel  Drew  at  the  office  of  D.  Groesbeck  &  Co.,  brokers 
of  said  Drew,  and  then  and  there  stated  to  said  Drew  the 
rumors  which  deponent  had  heard,  and  asked  him  for  infor- 
mation on  the  subject ;  that  Drew  denied  that  an}^  such  issue 
had  been  made,  or  that  any  such  issue  was  in  contemplation, 
and  stated  to  deponent  that  the  Company  had  no  authority 
to  issue  any  stock  except  in  exchange  for  the  stock  of  rail- 
roads held  under  lease,  and  that  no  such  change  had  been 
made,  or  was  in  contemplation.  That  some  days  afterward 
deponent  was  informed  by  Martin  E.  Green,  who  is  a  large 
operator  in  the  same  office  with  D.  Groesbeck  &  Co.,  and 
who  was  in  the  room  at  the  time  of  the  conversation  with 
Drew,  that  half  an  hour  before  said  conversation,  Drew  had 
informed  him,  Green,  that  he.  Drew,  had  converted  more 
than  a  million  of  dollars  of  the  securities  of  the  Buffalo,  Brad- 
ford and  Pittsburg. Railroad  Company  into  stock  of  the  Erie 
Railway  Company,  and  that  said  stock  was  then  in  Groes- 
beck's  box  ready  for  delivery ;  that  afterward,  on  February 
i8,  1868,  deponent  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Directors  of 
the  Erie  Railway  Company,  at  which  the  said  Drew  was 
present,  and  deponent  then  and  there  stated  to  Drew  the 
substance  of  deponent's  interview  with  Green,  deponent 
withholding  only  the  name  of  the  said  Green ;  and  deponent 
then  charged  Drew  with  having  told  him  a  falsehood,  and 
Drew  did  not  deny  the  charge." 

The  case  was  again  up  on  the  4th  of  March,  this  time  with 
the  people  as  complainants.  The  new  petition  against  Daniel 
Drew  and  the  Company  was  substantially  the  same  as  that 
presented  by  Frank  Work,  but  set  forth  in  addition  that 
"  since  the  last  election  of  Directors  in  October,  1867,  several 
of  the  Directors  elected,  being  more  or  less  interested  in  the 
Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie  Railroad,  the  Erie  Company  had 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  69 

agreed  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  7  per  cent,  interest  on 
$4,000,000  of  bonds  on  that  railroad,  part  of  which  bonds  with 
such  guarantee,  having  been  issued,  and  part  remaining  in 
the  hands  of  Drew  and  Davis  unsold." 

Another  injunction,  following  substantially  the  prayer  of 
the  petitioners,  was  granted  by  the  Court. 

The  Erie  litigation  was  now  fairly  launched,  and  bade  fair 
to  float  for  an  indefinite  period  to  the  great  delight  of  an 
army  of  lawyers.  On  the  very  day  the  above  mentioned 
injunction  was  issued  in  New  York  against  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  another  was  issued  by  Justice  Ransom  Balcom,  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  sitting  in  Broome  County,  restraining 
Frank  Work  and  the  people  from  prosecuting  that  Company. 
The  plaintiffs  in  this  case  were  the  Company  and  James  Fisk, 
Jr.,  the  latter  now  appearing  for  the  first  time  prominently 
in  a  case  destined  ere  long  to  make  his  name  known  the 
world  over. 

Fisk  was  the  first  witness  called.  He  testified  that  as  a  Di- 
rector of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  he  had  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  the  facts  and  motions  referred  to  in  the  complaint ; 
was  acquainted  with  Frank  Work,  and  had  sat  with  him  as  a 
co-director ;  was  acquainted  with  the  plans,  policy,  business, 
and  resources  and  business  condition  of  the  Corporation,  and 
Avith  its  relation  to  the  Central  line  of  New  York ;  knew  the 
facts  connected  with  the  issue  of  28,000  sliares  of  stock,  the 
conversion  and  exchange  of  bonds,  the  Buffalo,  Bradford,  and 
Pittsburg  Railroad,  the  contract  with  the  Boston,  Hartford 
and  Erie  Railway  Company,  and  the  extension  of  the  broad 
gauge  in  Ohio. 

Jay  Gould  testified  that  previous  to  the  election  of  Direct- 
ors in  October,  1867,  it  was  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  in 
New  York  that  those  who  controlled  the  Harlem  and  Hud 


70  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

son  River  Railroad  would  endeavor  to  get  control  of  the 
New  York  Central ;  and  to  increase  the  business  of  the  lat- 
ter were  making  strong  efforts  to  control  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company.  Among  those 
parties  were  Augustus  Schell,  Richard  Schell,  and  Frank 
Work.  The  witness  averred  that  the  efforts  made  were  for 
the  purpose  of  putting  the  Erie  road  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  had  millions  invested  in  a  great  rival  line ;  that  it  was 
by  getting  proxies  sent  to  himself  or  his  agents  that  Work 
was  elected  a  Director;  that  on  the  17th  of  February,  Work 
had  a  notice  served  on  the  Directors  to  prevent  them  from 
extending  their  broad  gauge  to  Chicago.  Witness  further 
testified  that  Work  came  into  the  Erie  Board  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  the  leading  manager  of  the 
Harlem,  Hudson  River,  and  Central  Railroads ;  and  that, 
althougfh  Work  knew  of  the  circumstances  relating  to  the  loan 
by  Drew  on  stock  of  the  Company,  he  voted  for  Drew  as  a 
Director  and  also  as  Treasurer, 

The  injunction  prayed  for  by  the  plaintiffs,  and  granted  by 
Justice  Balcom,  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Supreme  Court,  County  of  Broome.  The  Erie  Railway 
Company  and  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  plaintiffs,  agt.  Marshall  B. 
Champlain,  Attorney-General  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
Josiah  Bardwell,  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Alexander  S.  Diven, 
Daniel  Drew,  John  S.  Eldridge,  William  Evans,  Eben  D. 
Jordan,  Jay  Gould,  Dudley  S.  Gregory,  George  M.  Groves, 
Frederick  A.  Lane,  Homer  Ramsdell,  Wm.  B.  Skidmore, 
Henry  Thompson,  James  S.  Whitney,  Frank  Work,  and  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  defendants.  On  the  com- 
plaint herein,  and  on  the  affidavits  of  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  and 
Jay  Gould,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Eaton,  counsel  for  the 
plaintiffs,  and  it  appearing  to  me  that  there  is  good  cause 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  7I 

therefor,  and  the  proper  undertaking  having  been  executed, 
I  do  hereby  order  and  require  : 

"  That  the  defendant,  Frank  Work,  and  his  attorneys, 
counsel  and  agents,  do  severally  and  wholly  refrain  from 
promoting,  sustaining,  or  taking  any  part  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  petition  or  either  of  the  suits  referred  to  in  the  com- 
plaint, and  also  that  all  proceedings  therein  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  stayed  ;  that  said  Work  do  not,  as  a  Director  or 
otherwise,  institude,  promote,  or  take  part  in  either  suit  in 
this  complaint  referred  to,  and  do  not  promote  or  take  part 
in  any  other  suit  or  proceeding  against  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  or  against  any  officer  thereof,  in  respect  to  any 
action  of  the  Board  of  Directors  or  Executive  Committee,  or 
in  respect  of  the  rights,  duty,  or  authority  of  said  Board, 
Committee,  or  Company,  or  concerning  the  records,  proceed- 
ings, or  books  or  papers  of  either  said  Company,  Board,  or 
Committee.  That  said  Work  do  not  appear  at  any  meeting 
of  said  Board  of  Directors  or  Committee,  or  otherwise  act 
or  assume  to  act,  or  give  any  direction  or  advice  as  Di- 
rector or  officer  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company. 

"  That  the  Attorney  -  General  and  his  agents  do  refrain 
from  proceeding  under  or  upon  the  petition  referred  to  in 
the  complaint,  and  from  taking  any  further  proceeding  in  any 
suit  in  the  complaint  mentioned  ;  and  also  that  all  pro- 
ceedings in  the  suit  in  the  complaint  mentioned,  in  which  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York  are  represented  in  the  com- 
plaint ■  therein  as  being  plaintiffs,  be  stayed ;  and  that  said 
Attorney-General  do  not  authorize  or  institute,  in  the  name 
of  the  people  or  otherwise,  any  other  suit  or  proceeding 
against  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  in  reference  to  any 
matters  mentioned  in  the  complaint  therein. 

"  That  said  Work,  on  the  complaint  and  affidavit  herein 


72  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

referred  to,  and  on  such  further  affidavits  as  may  be  served 
on  him  eight  days  before  the  term  hereinafter  named,  show 
cause  before  a  Special  Term  of  this  Court,  to  be  held  at 
Cortlandville,  in  the  county  of  Cortland,  on  the  7th  day  of 
April,  1S6S,  why  he  should  not  be  suspended  as  Director  of 
the  Erie  Railway  Company." 


CHAPTER    X. 

But  immediately  after  the  issuing  of  Judge  Barnard's 
order  of  the  17th  of  February,  restraining  him  from  using 
his  58,000  shares  of  stock,  the  ready-witted  Drew,  always 
fertile  in  resources,  and  now  the  head  and  front  of  the  Erie 
Directory,  prevailed  upon  the  Board,  without  much  diffi- 
culty, to  issue  Sio,ooo,ooo  of  new  bonds  "  for  construction 
purposes."  The  bonds  were  at  once  converted  into  stock, 
the  cunning  trick  having  been  played  in  both  its  stages  just 
in  time,  for  at  a  later  hour  of  the  same  day.  Judge  Barnard's 
second  injunction  was  issued.  Had  the  judge  taken  a  little 
less  sleep,  indulged  in  a  little  less  slumber,  on  that  morning, 
many  of  the  events  recorded  in  this  history  would  never 
have  occurred. 

The  new  stock,  100,000  shares,  was  issued  in  equal  parts 
to  Daniel  Drew  and  James  Fisk,  Jr.  Uncle  Daniel  distrib- 
uted his  shares  among  his  brokers,  but  Fisk  quietly  held  his, 
and  waited  for  his  veteran  leader  to  move. 

Commodore  Vanderbilt  was  now  ready  to  strike  the  mar- 
ket.    His  orders  were  issued,  and  his  agents  were  as  busy  as 


FISK   A2iD   (iOULD   GOING   TO   JERSEY. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  75 

bees  purchasing  Eric  stock,  and  up  it  went  with  a  bound. 
On  the  29th  of  February,  it  was  68i,  and  Vanderbilt  seemed 
to  have  everything  his  own  way,  but 

"  The  best  laid  plans  of  mice  and  men 
Gang  afc  aglee." 

Daniel  Drew  had  his  keen  eyes  upon  the  street,  and  his 
fingers  upon  the  wires. 

"  Throw  your  stock,"  said  he,  to  his  merry  men,  one  and 
all.  "  Don't  wait  a  minute."  And  then  to  himself,  "  I'm 
rally  sorry  for  Vanderbilt,  but  he  oughtn't  to  be  so  rash.  A 
man  of  his  years  ought  to  know  better  than  to  fly  in  the  face 
of  Providence.  I  pity  him,  indeed  I  do ;  and  I  hope  this 
blessed  day  will  be  a  lesson  to  him." 

The  stock  held  by  Drew's  brokers  was  thrown  upon  the 
market  without  a  moment's  delay,  and  every  share  was 
bought  by  Vanderbilt's  retainers.  All  at  once  the  character 
of  the  stock  was  discovered,  and  the  bulls  were  amazed  and 
terrified.  Down  went  Erie  to  65,  and  the  hearts  of  the  bears 
were  made  glad. 

"  It'll  git  to  60  afore  long,"  said  Uncle  Daniel  to  one  of  his 
agents;  "and  I'm  not  afeard  to  venture  that  it'll  go  as  low 
as  55  afore  the  day's  over." 

"  Mr.  Drew,  Mr.  Drew !"  exclaimed  one  of  Uncle  Daniel's 
men,  who  just  then  rushed  in  from  the  street  out  of  breath  ; 
"  Erie's  going  up  like  the  devil.  Vanderbilt  is  buying  every 
share  of  the  stock  he  can  get.     What's  to  be  done?" 

Uncle  Daniel  was  thunderstruck.  He  had  thought  to  bring 
the  Commodore  to  his  knees,  and,  in  the  language  of  Job, 
make  his  enemy  "  to  bite  the  dust ;"  but  with  more  than 
S4,ooo,ooo  of  Erie  stock  saddled  upon  him  that  day,  and  with 
a  gloomy  prospect  before  him,  Vanderbilt  was  as  firm  as  a 
5 


76  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

rock.  He  bought  every  share  of  Erie  that  was  offered,  and 
the  stock  shot  up  to  70,  and  f.ien  to  72  and  73.  Drew  was 
more  than  puzzled ;  he  was  absolutely  dismayed.  Short 
contracts  for  millions  remained  uncovered,  and  they  were 
fast  reaching  maturity.  He  saw  that  the  superior  pluck  of 
the  Commodore  had  carried  him  through  the  storm,  and 
that  to  attempt  to  cripple,  much  less  to  kill  him,  would  be 
next  to  impossible. 

To  add  to  the  old  man's  trouble.  Judge  Barnard  granted 
an  injunction  restraining  him  from  acting  as  an  officer  of  the 
Erie  Company.  This  was  done  about  the  ist  of  March.  On 
the  loth  of  that  month  suit  was  brought  by  Richard  Schell 
(in  Vanderbilt's  interest)  against  the  Erie  Company,  Daniel 
Drew  and  others,  on  the  complaint  in  which  Judge  Barnard 
had  issued  the  injunction,  enjoining  the  Directors  from  hold- 
ing any  meeting  at  which  Frank  Work  was  not  permitted  to 
take  part;  further  enjoining  the  officers  of  the  Company 
from  doing  any  act  by  which  the  capital  stock  of  the  Com- 
pany, not  already  duly  issued  to  bona  fide  holders,  should  be 
issued  or  created;  from  increasing  the  stock,  and  from  con- 
verting the  Company's  bonds  into  stock. 

In  this  place  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  r^suni^  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  great  fight  between  Vanderbilt  and  the  Erie 
people.  The  Erie  road  and  the  New  York  Central,  the  lat- 
ter controlled  by  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  lead  from  New  York 
to  the  interior  of  the  State— the  Erie  directly,  and  the  Cen- 
tral through  its  connection  with  the  Hudson  River  and 
Harlem  roads.  Unfortunately  for  the  Erie  road,  its  gauge, 
or  the  width  between  its  rails,  is  so  much  broader  than  that 
of  most  of  the  roads  connecting  with  it  at  its  western  termi- 
nus, that  the  cars  containing  freight  coming  from  points  be- 
yond it,  can  not  be  run  upon  its  track,  and  must  therefore 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  -JJ 

be  sent  over  the  Central  road,  the  gauge  of  which  is  better 
suited  to  their  wheels.  To  remedy  this  disadvantage,  the 
Erie  Company  had  projected  two  improvements — first,  to  lay 
a  third  rail  on  its  own  track,  so  as  to  accommodate  narrow 
gauge  cars;  and  second,  to  lay  a  similar  rail  on  certain  nar- 
row gauge  roads  terminating  at  Chicago,  so  that  its  own 
cars  could  be  run  directly  to  that  city.  In  addition  to  this,  as 
the  Central  had  control  of  some  of  those  connecting  roads 
east  of  Chicago,  they  proposed  to  build  a  few  miles  of 
broad  gauge  road  from  a  point  where  the  broad  guage  ter- 
minated to  the  nearest  point  which  they  could  reach  beyond 
the  influence  of  the  Central.  To  do  all  this  required  money, 
and  they  made  the  necessar^'^  arrangements  to  raise  it. 

Here,  however,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  stepped  in,  and  en- 
deavored to  thwart  the  consummation  of  a  scheme  which,  in 
his  judgment,  threatened  the  interests  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Railroad,  and  by  resorting  to  legal  proceedings  through 
his  agents,  he  for  the  time  embarrassed  the  progress  of  the  Erie 
improvements..  The  Erie  people,  headed  by  Daniel  Drew, 
were  not  idle.  Vanderbilt,  through  his  friend,  Frank  Work, 
whom  he  had  placed  in  the  Erie  Board  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing informed  of  its  plans,  had  obtained  an  injunction  sus- 
pending Drew  from  his  office,  and  forbidding  the  borrowing 
of  money  which  had  been  resolved  upon  ;  but  Drew,  through 
Fisk,  had  also  obtained  an  injunction  upon  Frank  Work,  sus- 
pending him  also,  and  forbidding  him  to  prosecute  his  suit 
against  Drew. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  as  before  mentioned,  Richard  Schell 
obtained  a  counter  injunction  against  Daniel  Drew  and  his 
associates  ;  and  Mr.  Belden,  formerly  the  partner  of  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  obtained  still  another  injunction,  on  the  same  day, 
against  the  whole  Yanderbilt  party,  and  even  Judge  Barnard 


7S  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

himself,  who  granted  the  injunction  against  Daniel  Drew. 
Then,  on  that  day  there  were  no  fewer  than  six  suits  in  full 
blast,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  more  to  come.  The  war  was 
carried  on  by  the  use  of  means  well  known  to  the  financiers 
of  Wall  street ;  and  the  violent  fluctuations  in  the  Erie  stock 
simply  indicated  the  predominance  of  one  party  or  the 
other.  At  this  period  the  friends  of  Erie  were  in  the  ascend- 
ant, and  were  sanguine  of  carrying  out  their  purpose.  There 
was  then  a  strong  feeling  in  the  community  against  Vander- 
bilt.  One  of  the  daily  papers  in  commenting  upon  the  strug- 
gle, said : 

"  Now,  if  this  contest  affected  only  the  gamblers  in  stocks, 
it  would  not  much  concern  the  public;  but,  as  it  appears  to 
us,  every  citizen  has  the  deepest  interest  in  its  being  termi- 
minated  as  soon  as  possible  by  the  discomfiture  of  Mr. 
Vanderbilt.  What  would  be  the  result  if  he  were  to  obtain 
the  control  of  the  Erie,  as  he  has  of  the  Central  road,  may 
be  judged  by  the  policy  he  has  adopted  since  the  latter  fell 
into  his  possession.  He  has  so  raised  the  price  of  freights 
from  this  city  to  the  various  toAvns  along  its  line,  that  it  costs 
as  much  to  carry  goods  from  here  to  Syracuse,  Rochester, 
and  other  such  places,  as  it  does  to  carry  them  to  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  and  Chicago.  Let  him  once  get  the  Erie  road  into 
his  power  likewise,  and  the  tariff  of  freights  along  its  whole 
length  will  be  raised  in  the  same  manner,  and  not  only  that, 
but  the  freights  on  all  the  Western  roads  connecting  with 
the  two. 

"  The  consummation  of  the  Vanderbilt  project  is  not  likely 
to  be  effected.  The  Courts,  in  the  first  place,  will,  as  soon 
as  the  case  can  be  properly  presented  to  them,  dissolve  the 
injunctions  obtained  against  Mr.  Drew,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Erie  Directors  ;  and  besides,  a  Committee  appointed  by  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  7^ 

State  Senate  is  now  investigating  the  whole  aflfair  with  a 
view  to  prevent  by  legislation  the  anticipated  injury  to  the 
City  and  State." 


CHAPTER   XI. 

The  Erie  case  was  now  one  of  the  main  topics  of  the  day. 
On  Tuesday,  the  loth  of  March,  there  were  rumors  of  a  fresh 
injunction  against  Erie,  Vanderbilt,  and  others,  and  the 
movements  and  counter  movements,  injunctions  and  counter 
injunctions,  were  bringing  the  matter  to  such  a  pass  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  do,  or  even  to  say  anything,  with- 
out running  the  risk  of  going  to  jail  for  contempt  of 
Court.  At  this  time  the  following  was  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  this  remarkable  case. 

Two  suits  and  a  proceeding  in  the  interest  of  Frank  Work 
(Vanderbilt)  against  Daniel  Drew. 

A  counter  suit  enjoining  Frank  Work  from  acting  as  a 
Director  of  Erie,  and  staying  all  proceedings  in  the  preceding 
suits. 

A  suit  by  Schell,  one  of  Vanderbilt's  attorneys,  restraining 
the  last  suit,  and  restraining  the  Erie  Company  from  acting 
without  the  consent  of  Frank  Work. 

Then  came  rumors  of  an  action  against  Vanderbilt,  Schell 
and  Work,  restraining  them  from  doing  anything  at  all. 

The  last  rumors  were  correct,  a  suit  having  been  com- 
menced in  Kings  County,  and  an  injunction  issued  by  Judge 
Gilbert.    This  suit  brought  in  as  parties,  Judge  Barnard  and 


8o  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Commodore  Vanderbilt.  As  a  matter  of  interest  the  papers 
on  which  the  injunction  was  granted,  and  the  injunction 
itself  are  here  appended  : 

"  Supreme  Court,  County  of  Kings. — Wilham  Belden  agt. 
CorneHus  Vanderbilt,  Wra,  H.  Vanderbilt,  Richard  Schell, 
Augustus  Schell,  James  H.  Banker,  George  G.  Barnard, 
Frank  Work,  Josiah  Bardwell,  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Alex- 
ander S.  Diven,  Daniel  Drew,  John  S.  Eldridge,  William 
Evans,  Eben  D.  Jordan,  Jay  Gould,  Dudley  S.  Gregory, 
George  M.  Groves,  Frederick  A.  Lane,  Homer  Ramsdell, 
William  B,  Skidmore,  Henry  Thompson,  James  S.  Whitney, 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  and  Marshall  B, 
Champlain,  Attorne)'-General  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
William  Belden,  plaintiff,  on  behalf  of  himself  and  all  other 
stock  holders  and  other  creditors  of  the  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany, complains  and  alleges : 

"  I.  That  the  Erie  Railway  Company  is  a  Corporation 
organized  under  certain  acts  of  the  Legislature,  etc. 

"  2.  That  the  plaintiff  is  the  owner  of  one  thousand  shares 
of  the  stock  of  the  said  Erie  Railway  Company,  of  which  a 
part  is  standing  to  his  name  on  its  books  ;  and  he  is  also  the 
owner  and  holder  of  a  bond  of  the  Company  for  the  sum  of 
Siooo  payable  October  i,  1880. 

"  3.  That  the  defendants,  Work,  Fisk,  Ramsdell  and  others, 
are  Directors  of  the  said  Erie  Railway  Company. 

"  4.  That  the  said  Erie  Railway  Company  maintains  and 
operates  a  railway  extending  from  the  City  of  New  York, 
through  the  States  of  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,  to  Dunkirk  and  Buffalo  ;  such  railway  having  a  broader 
gauge  than  most  other  railways  in  the  country,  and  its  cars 
being  for  that  reason  unable  to  pass  over  most  of  the  roads 
connected  with  it. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  8l 

"5.  That  the  business  and  profits  of  the  Company  would 
be  very  largely  increased  by  the  opening  of  railways  of  an 
equal  gauge  connected  with  said  railway,  and  leading  to  the 
West,  so  that  cars  might  pass  over  the  same  from  New  York 
to  all  the  principal  Western  cities,  without  change. 

"  6.  That  another  line  of  railway  between  the  cities  of  New 
York  and  Buffalo  is  formed  by  certain  lines  known  as  the 
Hudson  River  Railroad,  and  Harlem  Railroad,  and  the 
Central  Railroad,  all  having  a  narrow  gauge,  uniform  with 
that  adopted  by  most  railroads  in  this  country. 

"  7.  That  the  Corporations  owning  these  three  roads  are  all 
controlled  by  the  defendant,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  who  is  a 
Director  in  each  of  them,  and  a  majority  of  stock  in  each  such 
Corporation  is  owned  by  him  or  by  persons  acting  for  his  in- 
terest, and  in  uniform  cooperation  with  him. 

"  8.  That  the  business  of  tlie  said  Erie  Railway  Company 
is  carried  pn  in  constant  competition  with  the  said  three  roads, 
which  have  a  common  interest  in  opposition  to  that  of  said 
Company. 

"  9.  That  the  said  Company  has  for  some  time  past  endea- 
vored to  complete  its  connection  with  the  West  by  securing 
the  opening  of  railways  with  a  track  of  equally  broad  gauge 
with  its  own,  and  as  the  plaintiff  is  informed  and  believes,  its 
Directors  had  nearly  completed  such  arrangements  as  would 
accomplish  this  result,  when  the  proceedings  hereinafter 
mentioned  were  commenced. 

"  10.  That,  as  the  plaintiff  is  informed  and  believes,  a  com- 
bination was  entered  into  some  time  during  the  month  of 
February,  1868,  between  the  defendants,  Cornelius  Vander- 
bilt, Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt,  Frank  Work,  Richard  Schell  .... 
to  speculate  in  the  stock  of  the  said  Erie  Railwa)'  Company, 
and  to  use  the  process  of  the  Courts  for  the  purpose  of  aiding 


82  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

their  speculations,  for  which  purpose  they  had  various  con- 
sultations tog-ether,  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  said 
Work,  as  agent  for  the  said  conspirators,  should  bring  actions 
and  other  proceedings  in  the  Couits,  whereby  the  said  Com- 
pany should  be  restrained  from  carrying  out  its  plans  for  ex- 
tending its  connections  with  the  West,  and  from  fulfilhng  its 
contracts  for  the  issue  of  stock,  and  whereby  its  Directors, 
or  some  of  them,  should  be  suspended  or  removed,  and  a  re- 
ceiver of  its  property  should  be  appointed. 

"II.  That  in  pursuance  of  the  said  conspiracy,  the  said 
Work  commenced  an  action  against  the  said  Company  on 
or  about  the  17th  day  of  February,  1868,  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  said  Company  from  paying  a  large  sum  of  money 
lawfully  owing  by  it  to  the  defendant  Daniel  Drew.  On  the 
19th  of  February,  1868,  he  caused  a  petition  to  be  filed  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  said  Drew  from  his  office  as  Director  and 
Treasurer  of  said  Company;  and  on  the  2d  of  March,  1868, 
he  caused  an  action  to,  be  commenced  in  the  name  of  the 
said  people  against  the  said  Erie  Railway  Company,  and 
eleven  only  of  the  seventeen  Directors",  for  the  purpose  of 
restraining  it  from  completing  the  arrangements  previously 
entered  into  for  the  extension  of  a  broad  gauge  track  con- 
necting its  road  with  the  West. 

"12.  That  in  the  two  actions  above  mentioned,  the  said 
Work  obtained  injunctions  to  restrain  said  Company  from 
paying  its  said  debt  to  Daniel  Drew  and  from  fulfiUing  its 
contracts  for  the  extension  of  connecting  lines  to  the  West ; 
and  in  the  petition  above  mentioned,  an  order  was  granted 
suspending  said  Drew  from  his  said  offices,  and  requiring 
him  to  show  cause,  within  two  days,  why  he  should  not  be 
removed  therefrom. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  83 

"  13.  That,  althoup^h  the  petition  aforesaid,  and  the  sum- 
mons and  complaint  in  the  last  action,  purport  to  be  si.i^ned 
by  the  Attorney-General,  the  plaintiff  is  informed  and  be- 
lieves that  all  these  proceedings  are  originated  afid  exclu- 
sively prosecuted  by  attorneys  employed  by  the  said  Work, 
acting  as  agents  for  the  said  conspirators. 

"  14.  That  in  none  of  the  said  proceedings  have  any  of  the 
stockholders  of  the  said  Company  other  than  the  eleven  Di- 
rectors aforesaid,  been  made  parties  or  had  any  opportunity 
to  be  heard,  although  such  proceedings  affect  the  interests 
of  the  said  stockholders  more  than  those  of  the  Directors. 

"  15.  That  the  defendant,  Frank  Work,  as  the.  plaintiff  is 
informed  and  believes,  is  an  agent  of  the  defendant,  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt;  and  ever  since  his  election  as  a  Director  of  the 
said  Erie  Railway  Company,  he  has  acted  in  bad  faith,  for 
the  interest  of  said  Vanderbilt  and  the  competing  lines,  and 
instituted  all  the  said  proceedings  in  bad  faith,  for  the  like 
interest,  and  for  the  interest  of  the  conspirators  aforesaid. 

"  16.  That  the  acts  and  proceedings  aforesaid  are  intended 
by  the  parties  concerned  to  prevent  said  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany from  successfully  competing  with  the  said  Central, 
Hudson  River,  and  Harlem  Railroads,  and  to  embarrass  the 
business  of  said  Company,  and  to  prevent  it  from  securing 
its  fair  share  of  traffic  from  the  West,  and  that  they  are  well 
adapted  to  accomplish  that  purpose,  and  unless  restrained 
by  this  Court,  they  will  cause  irreparable  injury  to  the  said 
Company,  its  stockholders  and  creditors. 

"  17.  That  the  issues  raised  by  the  complaints  -n  the  two 
actions  above  mentioned  are  in  good  part  the  same ,  and  as 
the  plaintiff  is  informed  and  believes,  the  whole  controversy 
might  have  been  determined  in  a  single  suit ;  and  these  va- 
rious proceedings  have  been  multiplied  in  bad  faith,  and  for 


84  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

the  purpose  of  anno3'ing  and  injuring  the  said  Company,  its 
officers  and  stockholders. 

"  1 8.  That  in  order  to  complete  ar.  1  operate  the  railroad 
of  said  Company,  and  especially  to  lay  a  double  track,  put 
down  steel  rails,  and  purchase  cars,  engines  and  other  nec- 
essary equipments,  it  has  been  necessary  for  said  Corporation 
to  borrow  large  sums  of  money,  and  it  will  be  necessary 
hereafter  to  borrow  large  sums  ;  and  in  order  to  borrow  said 
moneys  it  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  necessary  for 
such  Company  to  issue  bonds,  as  provided  by  law,  coupled 
with  the  right  to  convert  the  same  into  stock. 

"  19.  That  a  large  number  of  such  bonds  so  legally  issued, 
are  now  outstanding  in  the  hands  of  <^^;/«/^^  holders  for  value, 
who  claim  the  right  to  convert  the  same  into  stock,  as  pro- 
vided by  the  tenor  of  said  bonds  ;  and  if  the  Company  refuse 
to  comply  with  their  said  contract,  they  will  become  respon- 
sible for  very  heavy  damages  in  case  of  depreciation  in  the 
stock ;  and  that  the  injunction  in  the  last  mentioned  suit 
restrains  the  Corporation  from  converting  said  bonds  now 
outstanding  into  stock,  and  from  issuing  any  new  stock,  or 
any  convertible  bonds,  which  injunction  was  artfully  con- 
trived in  order  to  cripple  the  Corporation  as  aforesaid,  where- 
fore the  plaintiff  demands  judgment : 

"  I.  That  the  defendants,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Wm.  H. 
Vandcrbilt,  George  G.  Barnard,  and  others,  be  restrained  by 
injunction  from  advising,  inciting,  commencing,  prosecuting, 
maintaining,  or  carrying  on,  any  suit,  action,  petition,  or  pro- 
ceeding having  for  its  object  in  whole  or  in  part  the  re- 
moval or  suspension  of  the  Directors  or  officers  of  the  Erie 
Railway  Company,  or  any  of  them,  or  the  procurement  of  a 
receiver  of  the  property  of  the  said  Company,  or  any  part 
thereof,  or  the  dispcsal  in  any  way  of  such  profits  or  any 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  8$ 

part  thereof,  or  the  restraining  of  the  said  Company  from 
carrying  out  any  agreement  heretofore  made  by  its  Directors, 
and  from  continuing  or  helping  to  continue  any  such  ac- 
tion, etc. 

"  2.  That  the  defendant,  Frank  Work,  be  restrained  by  in- 
junction from  acting  as  Director  or  other  officer  of  the  said 
Erie  Railway  Company. 

"  3.  That  the  defendant,  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  be 
required  to  issue  stock  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  its 
convertible  bonds  upon  demand  of  the  holders  of  such  bonds, 
and 

"  4.  That  the  said  Directors,  other  than  the  said  Work,  be 
required  to  continue  in  the  performance  of  their  proper  func- 
tions as  such. 

"  5.  That  all  the  parties  to  the  proceedings  mentioned  in 
the  complaint  be  required  to  submit  their  claims  to  the 
decision  of  the  Court  in  this  action. 

"Thomas  G.  Shearman, 

"  Plaintiff's  Attorney ." 

"  William  Belden  being  sworn,  testified  :  i.  A  large  specu- 
lation of  an  extraordinary  character  and  amount  has  been  pro- 
gressing in  Erie  Railway  stock  for  three  weeks  past.  2.  I  am 
a  banker  and  broker.  Stock  brokers  with  whom  I  am  in 
daily  intercourse,  who  are  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  said 
stock,  have  informed  me  that  among  the  persons  engaged  in 
said  speculation  are  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Richard  Schell, 
Augustus  Schell,  James  H.  Banker,  George  G.  Barnard,  an  1 
Frank  Work.  3.  The  said  Barnard  is  in  the  constant  habit  of 
resorting  to  Broad  street,  where  said  transactions  are  going 
on,  and  frequenting  the  office  of  one  of  the  principal  firms  of 
brokers  who  are  engaged  in  buying  said  stock,  and  who,  as 


86  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

deponent  is  informed  and  be\icves,  carry  on  said  transac- 
tions for  the  person  aforesaid." 

Henry  N.  Smith  testified  to  the  same  facts;  whereupon 
Judge  Gilbert  issued  the  following  injunction : 

"  It  appearing  satisfactory  to  me  by  the  affidavits  of  the 
plaintiff  and  Henry  N.  Smith,  and  the  complaint  duly  veri- 
fied by  the  plaintiff,  that  sufficient  grounds  for  an  order  of 
injunction  exist,  I  do  hereby  order: 

"  I.  That  the  defendants,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Wm.  H. 
Vanderbilt,  Richard  Schell,  Augustus  Schell,  James  H. 
Banker,  George  G.  Barnard,  Frank  Work,  and  Marshall  B. 
Champlain,  their  agents  and  servants,  refrain  from  advising, 
inciting,  or  commencing  any  action,  suit,  petition,  or  proceed- 
ing, having  for  its  object,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  removal 
or  suspension  of  the  Directors  or  officers  of  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  or  any  of  them,  or  the  procurement  of  a  receiv^er 
of  the  property  of  the  said  Company,  or  the  disposal  in  any 
way  of  such  property,  or  the  restraining  of  the  said  Company 
from  carrying  out  any  agreement  heretofore  made  by  its  Di- 
rectors, or  doing  any  act  in  furtherance  of  said  conspiracy. 

"  2.  That  the  defendant,  Frank  Work,  refrain  from  acting 
as  a  Director  or  other  officer  of  the  said  Erie  Railway 
Company. 

"  3.  That  the  defendant,  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  be 
enjoined  and  restrained  from  refusing  or  neglecting  to  issue 
stock  in  according  with  the  terms  of  its  convertible  bonds, 
upon  the  demand  of  the  dona  fide  holders  of  such  bonds,  and 

"4.  That  the  said  Directors,  other  than  the  said  Work,  be 
enjoined  and  restrained  from  refusing  or  neglecting  to  con- 
tinue in  the  performance  of  their  proper  functions  as  such,  until 
the  further  order  of  this  Court ;  and  in  case  of  disobedience 
to  this  order,  they  will  be  liable  to  the  punishment  therefor 


JAMES   FISIC,   JR.  87 

prescribed  by  law.  But  this  injunction  is  not  intended  to  in- 
terfere with  the  judicial  functions  of  said  George  G.  Barnard. 
And  I  do  further  order  that  the  said  defendants  show  cause 
before  me,  at  special  term,  to  be  held  at  the  Court  House  of 
the  City  of  Brooklyn,  on  Wednesday,  March  i8th,  at  10  o'clock 
A.M.,  why  said  injunction  should  not  be  continued. 

"J.  W.  Gilbert, 
"March  9,  1868.  "  Justice  Supreme  Court!' 

On  the  same  day  the  Vanderbilt  party  brought  still  another 
suit  in  the  name  of  John  Bloodgood  ;  and  in  this  suit,  brought 
against  Daniel  Drew  and  the  other  defendants  named  in  the 
Schell  suit,  an  injunction  was  granted  by  Judge  Cardozo. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The  injunction  business  now  began  to  attract  general  at- 
tention. The  power  to  grant  injunctions  had  always  existed, 
but  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  seemed  to  be  arrayed  against  each 
other  in  the  interests  of  contending  parties.  No  sooner  was 
an  injunction  granted  against  A  than  a  counter  injunction 
was  issued  against  B.  Judge  C  would  reply  to  Judge  D's 
order  by  a  counter  order  restraining  the  man  whom  Judge 
D  sought  to  comfort;  and  at  last  it  looked  as  if  nothing 
could  be  done  in  the  Courts  toward  bringing  certain  impor- 
tant public  cases  to  a  definite  settlement. 


88  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1868,  one  of  the  New  York  daily 
papers  contained  the  following  leading  editorial  written  by 
one  of  the  best  legal  writers  of  the  age  : 

"  To  decide  a  cause  without  hearing  it,  is  a  despotic  exer- 
cise of  authority  worthy  of  the  court  of  Judge  Lynch.  The 
granting  of  injunctions  by  a  single  judge,  on  the  ex  parte 
application  of  one  of  the  parties  to  an  anticipated  contro- 
versy, bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  summary  judgments 
of  that  famous  tribunal.  One  familiar  with  the  genius  ot  the 
common  law,  its  jealous  regard  for  private  rights,  its  eager- 
ness to  afford  every  man  an  open  trial,  face  to  face  with  his 
accusers,  would  infer  that  such  an  authority  was  entirely 
abnegated,  or,  if  used  at  all,  would  be  invoked  only  in  extra- 
ordinary cases  at  rare  intervals.  Such  was  once  the  prac- 
tice. But  a  power  which  judges  in  early  times  never  dared 
to  exercise,  and  which,  at  a  later  era,  they  used  only  when 
it  was  impossible  by  other  means  to  prevent  the  sacrifice  of 
precious  rights,  has  in  our  day  become  almost  as  common 
a  proceeding  as  the  issuing  of  a  summons  by  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  To  restrain  a  party,  without  notice  or  trial,  from 
executing  his  official  functions,  or  selling  or  using  his  prop- 
erty, or  doing  any  other  matter  or  thing  which  he  has  ordi- 
narily a  right  to  perform,  unless  he  is  forbidden  so  to  do  by 
the  final  judgment  of  a  competent  tribunal  after  a  fair  trial 
upon  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  is  an  arbitrary  exercise 
of  power  which  a  Court  in  extraordinary  exigencies  may 
feel  coastraincd  to  put  in  requisition,  but  which  is  so  liable  to 
abuse  that  it  will  be  '  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  in 
the  observance.' 

"  This  despotic  power  has  no  enviable  parentage.  It  arose 
in  the  English  Court  of  Chancery  in  a  dark  and  superstitious 
age,  when  that  ambitious  prelate,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  held  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  09 

great  seal  of  that  arbitrary  prince,  Henry  VIII.  A  sheer 
usurpation  at  the  outset,  it  not  having  been  sanctioned  by 
act  of  Parliament,  it  was  an  ecclesiastical  assault  upon  the 
common-law  courts,  where  private  rights  had  found  some 
slight  shelter  from  the  oppressions  of  the  grasping  minister 
and  his  greedy  master.  Like  all  usurpations  of  authority,  it 
grew  by  what  it  fed  upon,  till,  after  a  long  resistance  from 
commoners,  lawyers,  and  clients,  it  was  recognized  as  a  legit- 
imate function  of  the  Chancellor,  and  ultimately,  through 
rivalry,  it  stealthily  crept  into  the  courts  of  common  law. 
Being  closely  watched,  it  was  cautiously  and  rarely  exer- 
cised. The  offspring  of  usurpation  came  to  America  with 
other  judicial  relics,  some  precious,  some  worthless,  of  our 
English  ancestors.  Down  to  a  recent  period  our  judges 
called  it  into  use  only  in  great  emergencies,  which  would 
not  brook  delay,  and  where  the  ordinary  course  of  proceed- 
ings afforded  no  adequate  remedy  for  the  emergency. 

"  The  practice  of  issuing  ex  parte  injunctions,  arbitrary  in  its 
essence,  and  invariably  prejudicial,  and  sometimes  ruinous 
to  private  rights,  has  degenerated  into  an  abuse  that  de- 
serves rebuke  and  demands  correction.  As  oppressive  as 
the  Star  Chamber,  it  is  worse  in  one  particular  than  that 
odious  tribunal ;  for  it  tries  a  party  in  his  absence,  without 
giving  him  previous  warning;  or,  rather,  it  condemns  him 
without  trying  him  at  all.  The  usual  mode  of  obtaining  this 
process  is  short,  sharp,  and  summar}-.  A  lawyer  appears 
before  some  judge  sitting  in  a  dark  alcove  of  the  court-house, 
or  perhaps  literally  in  his  cJiambcrs,  armed  with  an  artful 
affidavit  of  some  vindictive  John  Doe,  and  the  aiixiliary  bond 
of  some  James  Straw,  and  procures  an  order  against  some 
jLinsuspecting  Richard  Roe,  who  happens  to  be  president  of 
a  bank  or  treasurer  of  a  railway,  enjoining  Roe  and  ever}-- 


go  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

body  who  is,  or  who  might,  could,  would,  or  should  be  con- 
nected with  him  in  business,  from  doing  anything  whatever, 
on  pain  of  fine  and  imprisonment ;  and  thereupon,  quick  as 
thought,  the  affairs  of  a  great  banking  house  or  railway  com- 
pany are  thrown  into  ruinous  confusion.  In  course  of  time 
other  lawyers  are  called  in ;  and  intrenched  behind  reams 
of  affidavits  and  piles  of  law  books,  a  fusinade  of  '  wise  saws 
and  modern  instances'  begins — the  jaws  of  the  judicial  alli- 
gator, however,  never  for  a  moment  relinquishing  their  grip 
upon  the  victim.  After  a  war  as  interminable  as  that  of  the 
Roses,  the  umpire  yawns  through  the  complications  of  a 
controversy  which  he  took  up  at  the  wrong  end,  and  comes 
to  the  conclusion  that  Doe  never  had  any  case  at  all,  and  so 
he  dissolves  the  injunction,  and  Roe  creeps  out  of  the  alliga- 
tor's jaws  a  triumphant  and  a  ruined  man,  while  the  bank  or 
railway  with  which  he  was  innocently  connected,  has  suf- 
fered a  loss  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  The  fleeced 
parties,  bail  bond  in  hand,  now  start  out  to  find  Straw.  It  is 
a  bootless  undertaking ;  for  he  is  either  no7i  est,  or,  if  found, 
proves  to  be  what  he  always  was,  not  worth  a  dime. 

"  We  are  compelled  to  make  these  general  comments  on  this 
subject  by  the  controversy  now  going  on  in  our  Courts  re- 
specting the  Erie  Railway  and  the  Rock  Island  Railroad. 
We  refrain  from  discussing  the  merits  of  these  cases.  They 
may  afford  amusement  to  stock-jobbers  and  fat  fees  to  law- 
yers, but  they  doubtless  seem  to  the  shareholders  and  bond- 
holders of  these  corporations  something  more  serious  than  a 
burlesque  on  judicial  proceedings.  If  there  be  grounds  for 
suits  between  these  litigants,  let  them  be  commenced  and 
carried  on  in  the  usual  way.  When  Demetrius  moved  for 
an  injunction  against  Paul  for  preaching  at  Ephesus,  the 
bulls  and  bears  and  barristers  of  that  idolatrous  city  came  to 


DIKECTOKS'  KOOM   AT  TAYLOR'S  gOTEL. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  93 

their  senses  on  being  reminded  by  the  clerk  that  the  law  was 
open,  and  that  there  were  deputies,  and  that  they  could 
implead  one  another  in  a  regular  and  decorous  manner." 

During  the  session  of  this  year  a  committee  was  appointed 
in  the  New  York  Senate  to  investigate  certain  charges  ot 
mismanagement  against  the  Erie  Railway  Company.  The 
principal  ground  of  the  complaint  was  the  resolution  passed 
on  the  19th  of  February  of  that  year,  for  the  issue  of  bonds 
to  the  amount  of  $10,000,000,  convertible  into  stock  of  the 
Company,  and  the  conversion  of  the  bonds  into  stock  for 
purposes  of  private  speculation.  Two  reports  on  this  matter 
were  submitted.  The  majority  of  the  committee  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  the  issue  of  bonds  had  been  obtained 
by  Daniel  Drew,  to  be  used  for  his  personal  gain,  "  utterly 
regardless  of  the  interests"  of  other  stockholders  in  the 
Company,  and  that  Eldridge,  the  President,  and  James  Fisk, 
Jr.,  and  Jay  Gould,  Directors,  were  concerned,  and  probably 
interested  with  Daniel  Drew,  in  these  "  corrupt  proceedings." 
The  report  closed  with  the  following  resolution : 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  fraudulent  abuses  developed  by  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  management  of  the  present  Directors  and 
officers  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railway  Company  demand 
that  increased  penalties  for  such  offences  shall  be  imposed  for 
the  protection  of  stockholders  and  the  community,  and  the 
special  committee  conducting  such  investigation  be,  and  they 
are  hereby  instructed  to  report  a  bill  making  it  a  felonious 
offence  for  any  Director  or  officer  to  fraudulently  issue  stock 
of  the  Company  in  which  he  holds  such  trust,  or  to  convert 
to  his  own  purposes  the  proceeds  of  any  stock  or  bonds ;  or 
to  fraudulently  take  or  carry  away  to  another  State,  or  with 
like  intent,  keep  or  retain  them  to  evade  legal  process  in  this 
State,  the  moneys  or  effects  of  such  Company." 
6 


94  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

A  minority  report  was  submitted,  which  commended  the 
general  management  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  and  declared  that 
there  was  uncontradicted  evidence  that  the  right  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  to  pass  the  resolution  of  February  19th 
was  not  doubted  or  questioned  either  in  the  Executive  Board 
or  Board  of  Directors,  and  was  therefore  not  a  willful  viola- 
tion of  the  law.  It  then  recommended  that  an  act  be  passed 
legalizing  the  issue  of  $10,000,000  of  stock,  as  well  as  vari- 
ous other  acts  of  the  Directors  which  had  been  complained 
of  as  illegal.  The  action  recommended  by  the  minority  of 
the  committee  was  favored  in  the  Senate. 

In  the  Assembly,  on  the  occasion  of  the  adoption  of  a  com- 
mittee report  adverse  to  a  bill  which  had  been  framed  in  the 
interest  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  the  following  com- 
munication was  submitted  to  the  House  : 

"Assembly  Chamber,  April  i,  1868. 
"  To  the  Hon.  Speaker  of  the  Assetnbly  : 

"  I,  E.  M.  K.  Glenn,  a  member  of  this  House,  from  my  seat 
in  this  House,  do  charge  as  follows  : 

"I.I  charge  that  the  report  on  the  Erie  Railroad  Bill  was 
bought. 

"  2.  I  charge  that  a  portion  of  the  vote  on  this  floor,  in 
adopting  the  said  report,  was  bought. 

"3.  I  charge  that  the  members  of  this  House  were  engag- 
ed in  buying  their  fellow  members. 

"  4.  I  charge  that  a  portion  of  the  vote  on  the  Harlem 
Milk  Bill  was  bought. 

"  5.  I  charge  that  some  of  the  Committees  of  this  House 
charge  for  reports. 

"  6.  I  charge  corruption,  deep,  dark,  and  dammng,  on  a 
portion  of  this  House.    I  ask  the  adoption  of  the  following : 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  -gij 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Speaker  appoint  a  committee  of  five  to 
investigate  the  foregoing  charges,  that  three  of  the  commit- 
tee be  taken  from  that  portion  of  the  House  that  voted  no  on 
the  Erie  Railroad  Renort,  and  two  from  that  portion  that 
voted  aye,  and  that  the  committee  have  power  to  employ 
counsel  and  send  for  persons  and  papers  ;  the  committee 
to  sit  in  this  Chamber  during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature. 
The  committee  may  employ  a  clerk." 

Mr.  Glenn's  motives  in  making  these  charges  having  been 
called  in  question,  he  declared  that  he  made  them  in  behalf 
of  no  Company  or  Corporation.  He  had  been  offered  ?5oo 
for  his  vote,  and  knew  a  member  who  had  been  offered 
$1200.  He  claimed  that  in  the  name  of  j'ustice  this  matter 
should  be  probed  to  the  bottom. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  these  grave 
charges,  but  Mr.  Glenn  refused  to  serve  on  it  because  of  the 
feeble  state  of  his  health.  He  asked,  however,  that  he  might 
be  represented  by  counsel  in  supporting  the  accusations  he 
had  made.  This  privilege  was  not  allowed,  but  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  carry  out  the  investigation. 

Mr.  Glenn,  on  being  summoned  before  the  committee,  was 
unwilling  to  give  his  testimony,  because  it  would  implicate 
one  of  the  men  before  whom  he  was  required  to  testify ;  and 
on  the  following  da)'-  he  accused  that  member  of  the  com- 
mittee, by  name,  of  having  offered  him  ?5oo  for  his  vote.  He 
then  asked  to  be  relieved  from  taking  any  part  in  the  investi- 
gations. The  committee  decided  that  there  was  no  ground 
for  the  charges  against  either  the  gentlemen  named,  or  any 
other  member  of  the  House,  whereupon  Mr.  Glenn  sent  in 
his  resisfnation  in  a  lonsf  letter,  in  which  he  reiterated  the 
charges  already  made.  It  was  decided  not  to  receive  this 
document,  as  the  House  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  resigna- 


9^  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

tion  of  members  if  they  saw  fit  to  vacate  their  places.  In 
the  discussion  on  this  subject  the  opinion  was  very  generally 
expressed  that  the  member  who  was  so  indignant  at  the  offer 
of  S500  for  his  vote  must  be  out  of  his  head. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Drew  had  been  ordered  to  appear  before  Judge  Barnard 
on  the  loth  of  March,  to  show  cause  why  he  should  not  be 
permanently  removed  from  the  Erie  Directory,  but  the 
counter  injunction,  fulminated  against  not  only  the  Vander- 
bilt  party,  but  against  Judge  Barnard  himself,  came  as  a 
welcome  relief  to  Uncle  Daniel,  and  gave  him  the  right  to 
disobey  Judge  Barnard  to  his  heart's  content  until  the  grant- 
ing of  another  injunction. 

The  accommodation  of  the  Brooklyn  judge  was  granted 
on  the  9th.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  the  market  was 
feverish.  Erie,  under  the  steady  but  powerful  pressure  ap- 
plied by  Commodore  Vanderbilt  and  his  agents,  had  run  up 
to  78,  and  notwithstanding  the  favorable  action  of  Judge 
Gilbert,  Daniel  Drew  was  unhappy.  His  short  contracts  for 
miUions  were  fast  reaching  maturity,  and  Erie  was  up  to  a 
ruinous  figure  already,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  advancing  still 
further. 

On  the  morning  of  the  lOth,  the  stock  was  at  79  and  firm. 
Vanderbilt's  trained  men  were  hard  at  work  with  orders 
from  their  chief  to  keep  the  market  strong.     Fisk  had  not 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  97 

yet  acted,  and  Drew  began  to  fear  that  his  young prot^g^  was 
about  to  betray  him.  Orders  were  issued  to  all  his  brokers 
to  buy  Erie  before  another  jump,  so  that  he  could  fill  his 
contracts.  All  at  once  Fisk's  50,000  shares  came  in  showers 
upon  the  market.  By  this  time,  Vanderbilt  buying  to  ruin 
Drew,  and  Drew  purchasing  to  save  himself,  the  stock  had 
reached  83.  Every  share  of  Fisk's  stock  was  greedily  taken, 
but  before  the  day  closed  the  street  was  wild  at  the  discov- 
ery of  the  character  of  the  material  which  he  had  thrown  on 
it  in  such  vast  quantities.  It  was  too  late.  Down  went  Erie 
to  71,  and  dozens  of  adventurers  were  ruined  in  an  hour. 

Vanderbilt  stood  like  a  rock  in  the  storm.  Foiled  again, 
and  this  time  by  :\.  parvenu  whose  name  he  hardly  recognized. 
But  he  did  not  flinch.  His  agents  were  ordered  to  keep  on 
bu3^ing  as  long  as  a  share  of  stock  remained,  and  by  the 
power  of  this  one  man's  will  the  panic  was  stayed.  He  had 
lost  ?  1 0,000,000. 

On  the  14th  of  March  several  issues  of  the  Erie  contro- 
versy came  before  Judge  Barnard  in  the  Supreme  Court 
Chambers.  The  court-room  was  crowded  with  spectators 
interested  in  the  matter,  and  the  proceedings  were  of  a  lively 
and  somewhat  exciting  character.  Mr.  Fullerton  called  the 
attention  of  the  Court  to  the  Erie  case,  stating  that  orders  of 
attachment  had  been  issued  against  various  Directors  of  the 
Erie  Railway,  and  that  he  had  understood  that  one  or  more 
of  these  Directors  were  in  the  custody  of  the  Sheriff.  He 
then  demanded  that  the  return  of  the  Sheriff  be  read. 

Mr.  Field,  for  the  respondent,  called  the  attention  of  the 
Court  to  the  fact  that  any  application  for  an  attachment  was 
a  violation  of  Judge  Gilbert's  injunction,  and  therefore  an)-- 
attachment  in  it  must  be  dismissed. 

Mr.  Fullerton  claimed  that  the  proceeding  by  attachment 


98  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

was  an  entirely  new  proceeding  not  within  the  injunction  of 
Judge  Gilbert. 

Mr.  Field  read  the  affidavits  to  show  that  this  contempt 
proceeding  was  a  proceeding  in  the  old  suits. 

Mr.  Justice  Barnard  was  of  the  opinion  that  this  w^as  a  new 
proceeding  to  see  whether  there  had  been  a  violation  of 
orders  of  the  Court. 

Mr.  Field.— Not  initiated  by  the  Court,  I  hope. 

Judge  Barnard.  —  Certainly  not.  This  Court  would  be 
only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  it. 

Mr.  Field.— I  understand  then,  that  your  Honor  decides 
that  this  case  must  go  on  ;  and  I  most  respectfully,  and  v/ith 
all  due  consideration  for  your  Honor,  claim  that  this  matter 
cannot  go  on  before  your  Honor.  It  is  on  record  that  your 
Honor  is  interested  in  this  suit,  and  before  your  Honor  can 
go  on  you  must  decide  that  you  are  not  interested  in  it,  and 
that  decision  your  Honor  should  not  make.  With  the  utmost 
respect  for  your  Honor,  I  claim  that  this  matter  should  not 
go  on  before  you. 

Judge  Barnard.— Before  I  granted  this  attachment  I  was 
fearful  that  I  might  violate  this  injunction  that  was  granted 
by  Mr.  Justice  Gilbert,  and  Mr.  Justice  Balcom  ;  but  I  be- 
came satisfied  on  examination  that  they  did  not  intend  to 
tie  up  the  proceedings  that  were  occurring  subsequent  to  the 
filing  of  the  injunction.  This  contempt  of  the  Court,  there- 
fore, occurring  afterward,  they  could  not  have  intended  to 
prevent  that  which  they  could  not  foresee  would  take  place, 
and  1  do  not  see  any  reason  for  changing  the  opinion  that  I 
then  had. 

Mr.  Field.— Then  your  Honor's  idea  is  that  they  did  not 
intend  to  stop  future  proceedings,  but  past  proceedings  for 
contempt  ? 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  99 

The  Court. — Not  for  a  contempt.  That  is  an  independent 
proceeding-  which  they  could  not  foresee  would  take  place. 

Mr.  Field. — But  the  injunction  is  positive  and  explicit 
that  they  refrain  from  taking  any  further  proceedings. 

Mr.  FuUerton. — In  what? 

Mr,  Field. — In  all  the  proceedings  mentioned  in  the  order. 

Mr.  Fullerton. — Against  the  Erie  Railway  Company?. 

The  Court. — As  far  as  Mr.  Drew  is  concerned. 

Mr.  Field. — The  gentleman  is  very  bold,  but  he  is  mistaken. 
(Mr.  Field  then  read  from  the  order,  "  in  any  suit  in  any  com- 
plaint.") 

The  Court. — I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  discuss  this, 
because  neither  Mr.  Drew,  nor  Mr.  Work,  nor  the  Attorney- 
General  has  anything  to  do  with  this  proceeding,  which  is 
entirely  new. 

The  names  of  all  the  parties  against  whom  proceedings 
were  issued  were  then  called  by  the  Sheriff,  and  Messrs. 
Lane  and  Skidmore  answered. 

Mr.  Fullerton  asked  that  the  parties  answering  be  com- 
pelled to  plead.  Mr.  Field  said  that  there  was  a  proper 
course  to  pursue,  and  the  other  side  should  know  it. 

The  Court  held  that  counsel  for  the  parties  attached  de- 
clining to  answer,  the  matters  must  proceed  on  regular  inter- 
rogatories. ISIeanwhilc  Messrs.  Lane  and  Skidmore  were 
served  in  court. 

The  Court  then  put  the  matter  over  to  Monday  the  23d 
of  March,  to  permit  the  attached  parties  to  answer  the  inter- 
rogatories, and  meanwhile  held  Mr.  Divcn  in  ?ioo  bail,  and 
Messrs.  Lane  and  Skidmore  in  like  amounts,  stating  that  he 
would  hold  the  parties  who  had  not  appeared  in  ?5oo,ooo 
each. 

A  dispute  then  arose  on  the  settlement  of  the  order,  Mr 


lOO  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Field  claiming  that  their  objection  and  Judge  Barnard's 
statement  (given  in  the  order  which  follows)  should  be  in- 
cluded in  the  order  of  the  Court ;  and  the  Vanderbilt  party, 
represented  by  Mr.  Rapallo,  insisting  that  no  such  order 
should  be  made.  It  was  ultimately  settled  that  the  decision 
of  the  Court  should  be  entered  in  an  order,  and  that  Mr. 
Field  should  also  enter  an  order  including  that  order,  as 
follows : 

'•  The  People,  etc.,  against  Diven.  The  plaintiffs  moving 
this  day  to  proceed  upon  the  attachment  issued  against  the 
defendant  for  an  alleged  violation  of  an  injunction,  it  was 
objected  that  the  motion  for  an  attachment  was  made  in 
violation  of  another  injunction  of  this  Court,  and  therefore 
that  no  further  proceedings  should  be  had,  which  objections 
were  overruled.  It  was  then  objected  that  the  judge  now 
sitting  could  not  hear  and  decide  on  the  questions  upon  an 
attachment,  because  he  was  a  party  to  another  suit,  being 
part  of  this  general  litigation,  and  was  interested  therein  ;  the 
judge  disclaiming  that  he  ever  had  any  interest  in  this  liti- 
gation, or  that  he  was  ever  interested  in  the  slightest  degree, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  remotely  or  contingently,  in  the 
Erie  or  any  other  stock,  or  ever  had  any  ;  which  objection 
the  Court  also  overruled,  and  thereupon  made  an  order,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

"  The  defendant  being  charged  with  contempt  of  court 
in  violating  an  injunction  issued  in  an  action  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  wherein  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York  are 
plaintiffs,  and  the  Erie  Railway  Company  and  others.  Direct- 
ors of  said  Company,  are  defendants,  on  the  3rd  of  March, 
1868,  and  a  writ  of  attachment  having  been  issued  against 
him  for  such  contempt  directed  to  the  Sheriff  of  the  City 
and  County  of  New  York,  returnable  on  the  14th  of  March 


JAMES   FISK,    JR.  lOI 

instant,  whereupon  the  said  Sheriff  has  returned  that  he  did 
attach  the  said  defendant,  Diven,  and  had  him  in  custody 
before  the  Court,  and  the  said  Diven,  on  being,  by  virtue  of 
said  attachment  brought  personally  before  the  Court,  and 
denying  that  he  is  guilty  of  the  misconduct  charged  as  afore- 
said against  him  ;  now  it  is,  on  motion  of  Marshall  B.  Cham- 
plain,  Attorney-General  of  the  State  of  New  York,  on  behalf 
of  the  people,  ordered  that  the  said  plaintiffs  do,  on  or  before 
the  i8th  March,  1868,  forthwith  file  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of 
this  Court  interrogatories  specifying  the  facts  and  circumstan- 
ces alleged  againsj;  the  said  defendant,  Diven,  and  that  they 
serve  a  copy  thereof  upon  the  said  defendant  or  his  counsel ; 
and  that  the  said  defendant  do  put  in  written  answers  to  said 
interrogatories,  upon  oath,  and  file  the  same  with  the  said 
Clerk,  on  or  before  the  21st  inst. ;  and  it  is  further  ordered 
that  the  said  defendant  appear  before  this  Court  on  the 
23rd  inst.,  at  10  A.M.,  to  which  the  further  proceedings  are 
adjourned ;  and  that  meantime  the  defendant  be  discharged 
on  giving  bail  iu  the  sum  of  $100,  to  appear  on  the  said  23rd 
of  March,  and  then  and  there  abide  and  perform  the  order 
of  the  Court  in  the  premises. 

"George  G.  Barnard." 

This  having  been  settled,  Mr.  H.  F.  Clark  stated  that  plain- 
tiffs' counsel  had  nothing  to  present  to  the  Court  in  the  mat- 
ter postponed  to  that  day.  They  desired  to  have  this  ques- 
tion of  contempt  settled  first.  This,  therefore,  if  the  other 
side  were  willing,  they  would  ask  should  go  over  to  Mon- 
day, the  23d  inst.,  when  the  attachment  matter  was  to  come 
up.  But  they  had  a  new  proceeding.  The  order  of  the 
Court  had  been  clearly  violated  in  the  issue  of  $10,000,000  of 
new  stock.     They  (the  plaintiffs)  had  prepared  a  new  com- 


I02  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

plaint  to  reach  the  proceeds  of  this  stock.  They  had  been 
unable  to  serve  the  defendants,  but  three  of  them,  Diven, 
Skidmore  and  Lane  were  in  court.  It  would,  perhaps,  be 
hardl}'  fair  to  compel  them  to  answer  immediately ;  but  he 
would  ask  that  they  be  directed  to  show  cause  on  Monday 
why  a  receiver  should  not  be  appointed. 

Judge  Barnard  said  he  did  not  see  why  it  should  be  de- 
layed.    The  matter  might  be  disposed  of  at  once. 

The  order  was  then  taken  to  show  cause  forthwith. 

Mr.  Skidmore  was  at  once  served,  but  Messrs.  Diven  and 
Lane  had  left  the  room. 

Mr.  Field  held  that  the  matter  was  entirely  ex  parte,  and 
declared  that  he  would  not  argue  if  the  other  side  dared  to 
proceed  on  such  a  service. 

The  Court  then  appointed  George  A.  Osgood  receiver  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  new  stock,  directing  him  to  give  security 
in  $1,000,000,  and  to  deposit  the  proceeds  whenever  they 
should  amount  to  $500,000  in  the  Union  Trust  Com- 
pany. 

This  action  of  Judge  Barnard  was  severely  criticised,  some 
of  the  papers  almost  exhausting  the  vocabulary  of  abuse  in 
dealing  with  him.  From  a  large  number  of  leading  edito- 
rials written  on  this  subject,  the  following  from  the  Su7i  is 
selected  because  of  its  seeming  fairness  and  its  moderate 
tone: 

"  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  is  the  President  of  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad,  and  largely  interested  in  the  Western  lines 
of  narrow  gauge  roads.  These  interests  require  that  he 
should  destroy  or  control  the  Erie  Railway.  This  is  a  wide 
gauge  road,  and  is  about  to  enter  upon  arrangements  with 
certain  Western  roads,  by  which  it  is  supposed  that  the  busi- 
ness power  and  influence  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt  will  be  seriously 


JAMES   FISK,    JR.  IO3 

impaired.  George  Osgood  is  a  well-known  Wall  street 
man,  and  the  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Vandcrbilt. 

"  The  Supreme  Court  is  a  tribunal  having  peculiar  control 
over  the  operations  of  corporations  and  their  officers  ;  among 
other  things  it  has  power,  upon  proper  cause  shown,  to  re- 
move an  officer,  to  dissolve  corporations,  and  to  appoint 
receivers  of  their  property.  George  G.  Barnard  is  a  Justice 
of  that  Court,  and  not  unknown  to  a'  certain  kind  of  fame. 

"  The  struggle  for  ascendancy  in  the  kingdom  of  railroads 
had  grown  to  gigantic  proportions  in  Wall  street;  millions 
of  dollars  were  involved,  and  the  courts  of  justice  were  ap- 
pealed to.  The  legal  proceedings  were  inaugurated  some 
time  since  by  the  regular  attorneys  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt,  who 
appeared  before  Judge  Barnard,  and  acting  ostensibly  for 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  procured  ex  parte,  that 
is,  privately  and  without  notice,  an  order  suspending  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Erie  road  from  his  office ;  and  about  the 
same  time  the  other  Directors  were  enjoined  from  holding 
meetings  and  acting  as  Directors.  The  order  suspending 
the  Treasurer  was  appealed  from,  and  an  effort  made  to  pro- 
cure an  immediate  hearing  by  the  General  Term  of  the 
Court,  upon  the  ground  stated  by  counsel  that  the  order 
v/as  of  so  startling  a  character,  and,  if  admitted  as  a  prece- 
dent, so  threatening  to  every  vested  right  of  propert}-,  that 
all  former  proceedings  on  appeal  ought  to  be  suspended, 
and  an  instantaneous  rehearing  had.  This  application  failed, 
the  judges.  Justice  Barnard  presiding,  deciding  that  the  Gen- 
eral Term  could  not,  without  the  consent  of  parties,  suspend 
the  rules  of  proceeding,  and  the  senior  justice  (Judge  Ingra- 
ham)  declaring  significantly  that  there  need  be  no  fear  that 
such  proceedings  would  pass  into  precedent. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  in  another  suit,  Cornehus  Vanderbilt, 


104  LIFE  ^^^   TIMES   OF 

George  G.  Barnard  and  othe  :s  were  on  oath  charged  with 
conspiring  to  accomplish  certain  purposes  touching  the  Erie 
Railwa}^  and  its  management;  and  therefore  an  injunction 
was  issued  b}^  Mr.  Justice  Gilbert,  of  the  Second  Judicial 
District,  restraining  the  parties  charged  from  proceeding 
further  in  the  suit  mentioned,  and  especially  from  prosecut- 
ing or  maintaining  any  proceedings  to  procure  a  receiver  of 
any  part  of  the  property. 

"  The  charge  as  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  and  against 
Judge  Barnard  has  been  so  widely  promulgated,  that  doubt- 
less every  citizen  has  heard  of  it,  and  probably  every  one 
has  formed  some  opinion  upon  it.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  due  to  public  decency,  and  Judge  Barnard  owes 
it  to  himself,  that  he  should  bear  himself  with  dignity  and 
circumspection. 

"On  Saturday,  as  we  learn  from  our  law  reporters,  Mr. 
Horace  F.  Clark,  a  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt,  acting  os- 
tensibly as  counsel  for  the  Attorney-General,  applied  to 
Judge  Barnard  for  an  order  returnable  to-day,  requiring  the 
Erie  Directors  to  show  cause  why  a  receiver  should  not  be 
appointed  for  a  certain  $8,000,000.  The  startling  audacity 
of  such  a  demand  by  counsel  need  not  to  be  commented 
upon.  In  an  application  of  such  import,  it  would  seem  that 
one  day,  and  that  Sunday,  would  be  a  short  time  to  prepare 
to  fully  enlighten  the  Court  and  secure  the  ends  of  justice. 
The  rule  of  law  in  all  cases  of  notice,  however  trivial  the 
application,  requires  eight  days'  notice.  It  was  understood 
that  on  Monday  Judge  Barnard  would  not  be  holding  the 
branch  of  the  Court  in  which  this  application  would  be 
heard,  and  that  it  would  come  before  another  Justice  of  the 
Court. 

"  According  to  the  report  of  the  scene,  Mr.  Justice  Bar- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  10$ 

nard,  upon  reading  the  order,  inquired  why  it  was  not  made 
returnable  forthwith  and  before  him  ;  and  with  his  own  hand 
so  changed  the  apphcation,  and  then  pointed  out  a  Director 
of  the  Erie  road  sitting  in  court,  on  whom  the  order  might 
be  served,  and  who  was  required  to  show  cause  upon  the 
moment  why  the  order  should  not  be  granted.  No  such 
cause  was  shown;  and  upon  the  spot  Justice  Barnard,  a  co- 
defendant  in  an  action  charging  him  with  complicity  with 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt  in  his  schemes  to  ruin  the  Erie  Railroad, 
upon  the  motion  of  Horace  F.  Clark,  son-in-law  of  Corne- 
lius Vanderbilt,  appointed  George  A.  Osgood,  another  son- 
in-law  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  receiver  of  eight  millions  of 
dollars,  being,  it  is  likely,  all  the  money  belonging  to  the 
Erie  Railway  Company.  However,  the  process  of  Justice 
Barnard  does  not  run  into  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  where  it 
is  said  the  fund  in  question  is. 

"  The  Constitutution  of  the  State  provides  but  one  way 
for  the  relief  of  the  bench  and  the  public  in  certain  cases, 
which  is  by  impeachment.  The  term  of  Justice  Barnard 
expires  on  the  ist  of  January  next,  and  it  is  stated  that  he 
will  be  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

"  The  seriousness  of  this  condition  of  things  cannot  be 
over-estimated,  and  it  seems  to  us  that  the  press,  the  bar,  and 
every  enlightened  and  conservative  element  of  society  owes 
a  duty  to  the  whole,  and  that  a  united  and  courageous  effort 
ought  to  be  made  to  secure  at  least  the  observance  of  a 
decent  decorum  in  the  courts  of  law." 


I06  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

The  proceedings  in  Judge  Barnard's  Court  on  the  14th  of 
March,  gave  but  little  uneasiness  to  the  Erie  Directors 
whom  the  deputy  sheriffs  had  failed  to  serve  with  writs. 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  Jay  Gould,  John  S.  Eldridge,  and  Uncle 
Daniel  Drew,  were  safely  ensconced  in  cosy  quarters  at 
Taylor's  Hotel,  Jersey  City,  where,  with  the  Company's 
books  at  hand,  and  with  a  fire-proof  safe  containing  88,000,000 
in  greenbacks,  they  proposed  to  establish  the  offices  of  the 
Erie  Railway  Compan}-,  and  bid  defiance  to  Judge  Barnard 
and  his  injunctions.  They  had  flitted  to  New  Jersey  on  the 
nth,  immediately  after  learning  from  their  "guerillas"  that 
the  Philistines  were  upon  them — that  the  officers  of  the  law 
were  out  in  force  anxiously  searching  for  the  inaccessible 
Directors,  whom  they  desired  to  serve  with  sundry  unpleas- 
ant documents  issued  from  Judge  Barnard's  Court. 

They  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  New  Jersey  when  they 
succeeded  in  having  a  bill  passed  through  the  Legislature  of 
that  State  in  a  very  short  space  of  time,  giving  the  Erie 
Railway  Company  all  the  rights,  titles  and  privileges  of  a 
New  Jersey  corporation.  They  made  a  division  of  the  profits 
of  the  recent  transactions  in  Wall  street,  and  set  about  laying 
plans  for  another  campaign  at  an  early  day. 

The  Erie  Railway  War  assumed  a  new  and  most  exciting 
phase  on  the  night  of  March  i6th,  in  the  attempt  of  an  organ- 
ized gang  of  forty  well-known  New  York  ruffians  to  kidnap 
Daniel  Drew,  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  Jay  Gould,  and  their  associates 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  IO7 

in  exile  ;  but  the  nefarious  design  failed  of  accomplishment. 
A  morning  paper  of  the  17th  gave  the  following  report  of 
the  affair : 

"  It  was  generally  understood  that  yesterday  Mr.  Drew 
and  his  companions  would  transfer  their  head-quarters  to 
the  Erie  Railway  building  at  the  Long  Dock,  but  from  timely 
intimations  received  from  their  agents,  the  project  was 
abandoned. 

"  In  the  forenoon  yesterday  Mr.  Masterson,  chief  detective 
of  the  Erie  Railway  force,  was  informed  that  something  was 
to  be  done,  but  what  it  was  he  was  unable  to  learn.  lie 
therefore  took  precautions  to  prevent  any  demonstration 
that  might  be  made.  Nothing  however  occurred  until  about 
four  o'clock,  when  it  was  observed  that  a  number  of  suspi- 
cious looking  characters,  who  came  across  the  Pavonia  ferry, 
were  congregating  about  the  depot  and  lounging  around 
the  restaurant,  until  after  the  arrival  of  several  boats,  the 
crowd  now  having  increased  to  about  forty  men. 

"  Soon  these  began  to  make  inquiries  for  Mr.  Archer,  con- 
tractor with  the  Company  for  receiving  and  delivering 
freight.  When  they  could  not  find  Mr.  Archer,  they  asked 
for  Mr.  Drew,  then  for  Mr.  Fisk,  Mr.  Eldridge,  President  of 
the  road,  and  others  of  the  Directors.  Being  told  that  none 
of  these  gentlemen  were  about  the  depot,  the  gang  dispersed, 
some  returning  to  New  York  by  way  of  the  Hoboken  ferry; 
some  by  the  Pavonia  ;  while  others  made  a  reconn(Hssance 
at  Taylor's  Hotel,  Jersey  City,  where  the  Erie  Railway 
Directors  were  quartered,  and  then  disappeared. 

"  While  the  gang  were  at  the  depot,  Chief  Masterson,  Robert 
E.  Daubers,  one  of  his  assistants,  together  with  Detectives 
McWilliams  and  Nugent,  of  the  Jersey  City  police,  recog- 
nized among  them  such  well-known  characters  as  Cusick, 


I08  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Jim  Elliott,  Jack  Connelly,  Pete  Roche,  Mike  Welch,  George 
Dorson,  Pete  Elliott,  and  others.  The  new  chief  of  police, 
N.  Fowler,  who  was  formerly  a  dealer  in  Washington  mar- 
ket, was  present  in  citizen's  dress,  and  recognized  among  the 
crowd  a  number  of  ex-Washington-market  butchers,  who 
are  now  well-known  sporting  characters. 

"  These  men  being  known  as  the  very  w^orst  kind  of  desper- 
adoes, and  not  likely  to  relinquish  a  project,  especially  as  it 
was  reported  they  were  to  receive  $50,000  for  their  services, 
Mr.  Drew  and  the  other  gentlemen  were  naturally  very  much 
alarmed  for  their  personal  safety.  It  was  beheved  that  the 
ruffians  would  return  to  Jersey  City  late  at  night,  and  watch- 
ing the  opportunity,  when  but  few  people  were  about,  would, 
pistol  in  hand,  make  a  dash  on  Taylor's  Hotel,  overpower 
the  employes,  and  then  seize  Mr.  Drew  and  his  associates, 
and  convey  them  away  before  any  opposition  could  be 
offered. 

"Under  these  circumstances  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
call  upon  the  police  for  protection. 

"  Chief-of-Police  Fowler  was  therefore  sent  for,  and  a  con- 
sultation held,  when  Mr.  Fowler  readily  consented  to  afford 
the  desired  protection.  Accordingly  at  nine  o'clock  roll-call 
a  number  of  the  men  were  selected  and  ordered  to  remain, 
while  the  entire  force  sent  out  on  duty  v/ere  notified, 
the  moment  they  saw  rockets  sent  up,  to  hasten  with  all 
speed  to  Taylor's  Hotel.  The  men  who  had  been  detained 
were  then  directed  to  arm  themselves,  and  subsequently  they 
were  quietly  admitted  to  the  hotel,  one  by  one,  and  took  up 
their  quarters  in  a  large  room  on  the  second  floor,  ready  for 
any  emergency.  The  railway  detectives  and  other  of  the 
employes  of  the  road  were  also  present  to  render  assistance. 
Patrols  were  sent  out  the  ferries  watched,  and  every  precau- 


THE  GUARD  ROOM  AT  TAYLOR'S  HOTEL. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  Ill 

tion  taken  to  prevent  a  surprise  should  the  ruffians  attempt 
a  raid.  Up  to  midnight  everything-  passed  off  as  usual, 
but  as  the  hotel  is  kept  open  all  night,  it  was  thought 
that  they  might  act- some  time  between  midnight  and 
morning." 

On  the  same  day,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Hudson  River, 
a  scene  fully  as  exciting,  but  of  a  different  character,  was 
enacted.  Monday,  March  i6th,  had  been  fixed  by  Judge 
Barnard  as  the  day  for  the  settlement  of  his  order  appointing 
George  A.  Osgood  receiver  of  Erie's  eight  millions.  Some 
time  between  Saturday  and  Monday,  Richard  Scbell,  acting 
for  the  Drew  party,  had  invoked  the  power  of  Mr.  Justice 
Gierke,  and  an  order  was  granted  by  him  enjoining  the  set- 
tling of  that  appointment  order,  and  staying  all  proceedings 
thereon. 

Judge  Barnard  opened  the  proceedings  of  his  court  at  ii 
o'clock  by  announcing,  to  the  evident  astonishment  and  dis- 
may of  the  Vanderbilt  party,  that  he  had  been  served  with 
an  order  staying  all  proceedings  in  the  matter,  and  directing 
parties  to  show  cause  on  the  ist  of  April  why  the  order  for 
a  receiver  should  not  be  vacated. 

Mr.  Clark. — Is  this  an  ordinary  exercise  of  the  Gourt's 
power? 

Judge  Barnard. — The  order  was  served  on  me  by  Messrs 
Field  and  Burrill;  the  papers  on  which  it  was  granted  Avere 
not  served  on  me.  I  understood  that  they  had  been  served 
on  Mr.  Vanderbilt. 

After  a  complete  silence  of  nearly  half  an  hour,  Judge 
Barnard  suggested  that  the  matter  should  stand  over  to 
Tuesday,  and  the  court  adjourned.  But  on  Tuesday  the 
case  was  again  postponed  to  Thursday,  the  19th,  Judge 
Barnard  remarking  that  "  he  hoped  some  Judge  of  the 
7 


112  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Supreme  Court  would  see  the  error  of  his  ways  and  reverse 
his  action." 

The  money  market  at  this  period  was  assuming  a  charac- 
ter of  great  stringenc}^  Avhich  was  attributed  to  the  action 
of  speculators  in  locking  up  greenbacks,  and  also  to  the  fact 
that  the  discredit  thrown  upon  railroads  by  the  attacks  upon 
Erie,  had  caused  many  loans  upon  railroad  stocks  to  be 
called  in.  To  add  to  the  distress  of  those  who  had  bought 
stocks  and  borrowed  money,  government  was  selling  gold 
and  buying  greenbacks,  and  this  had  the  effect  of  increas- 
ing the  exactions  of  money  lenders. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  proceedings  in  the  Erie  case  before  Judge  Barnard 
on  the  19th  of  March,  were  of  a  most  extraordinary  charac- 
ter. The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  well  as  some  of 
the  lawyers  engaged  in  the  litigation,  had  now  become  par- 
ties to  the  quarrel,  and  injunctions  and  counter  injunctions 
and  stays  of  proceedings,  and  other  legal  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  justice,  were  as  plenty  as  Bible  House  tracts. 

At  half-past  1 1  o'clock  the  first  gun  was  fired  by  Horace 
F.  Clark  calling  up  the  motion  for  a  receivership  of  the  Erie 
money.  He  recapitulated  the  many  facts  connected  with 
the  early  history  of  the  war  on  Erie,  and  at  last  brought  the 
story  down  to  the  9th  of  March. 

"  There  had  not  till  then,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  "  been  any  in- 


JAMES   FISK,    JR.  II3 

terference  with  your  Honor's  ordinary  jurisdiction  by  any 
of  your  collcag-ues.  On  the  9th  of  March,  WiUiam  Belden,  a 
partner  of  Mr.  Fisk,  went  with  a  complaint  to  a  judge  of  an 
adjoining  district,  and  procured  an  injunction  in  his  suit.  At 
this  point  your  Honor  was  made  a  party.  No  application 
had  been  made  to  you,  accessible  at  all  times  ;  no  application 
was  made  to  modify,  alter  or  change  your  injunction.  For 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  and  County  was  the 
Court  itself  made  a  party  on  a  false  charge. 

"  The  complaint  presented  to  Justice  Gilbert  was  full  of 
false  statements  and  fraudulent  concealments.  It  was  in- 
tended to  drive  your  Honor  from  the  consideration  of  the 
cause,  and  to  bring  it  before  some  more  supple  and  less  fear- 
less judge.  (He  then  read  the  loth  section  of  Belden's  com- 
plaint, and  continued.)  Here  is  Mr.  Belden,  the  partner  of 
Mr.  Fisk,  charging  your  Honor  with  fraud,  he  having  already 
sold  the  stock  short  to  depress  it  for  his  partner,  and  making 
his  own  partner  defendant.  Justice  Gilbert  stated  yesterday, 
that  when  he  granted  this  injunction  he  was  lying  on  a  sick- 
bed, and  that  when  he  granted  it  he  did  not  intend  to  author- 
ize the  issue  of  any  stock.  When  it  was  before  him  he 
stated  that  the  fact  of  the  injunction  was  unknown  to  him, 
and  that  had  he  known  of  such  an  injunction,  he  would  not 
have  granted  his  own  order.  He  had  granted  the  order,  not 
designing  to  cripple  this  court  in  its  ordinary  jurisdiction." 

He  then  read  Judge  Barnard's  affidavit  read  before  Judge 
Gilbert.  This  denied,  in  the  broadest  and  fullest  terms,  that 
he  had  anything  to  do  with  Erie  speculations,  or  that  he  had 
any  interest  whatever  in  the  result  of  the  litigation. 

After  Mr.  Clark  had  read  the  order  issued  by  Judge 
Gierke,  restraining  Vanderbilt,  Schell,  Barnard  and  others, 
Judge  Barnard  said : 


114  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  You  will  draw  up  an  order  to  show  cause,  returnable 
forthwith,  and  serve  \t  forthwith  on  Mr.  Eaton,  the  Attorney 
of  the  Company,  why  this  injunction  should  not  be  vacated." 

Mr.  Rapallo. — Your  Honor  is  aware  that  the  venue  in  this 
action  is  laid  in  Steuben  County. 

Judge  Barnard. — That  makes  no  difference  —  the  order 
was  made  here. 

Mr.  Fullerton. — One  word  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  any 
who  have  listened  to  the  tirade  of  this  morning  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  this  action.  This  injunction  is  but  an  ordinary  ex- 
ercise of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  Equity  to  prevent  the 
multiplicity  of  suits,  and  to  bring  into  one  single  suit  all  the 
litigations  which  have  arisen,  or  can  be  anticipated,  growing 

out  of  one  transaction The  same  question  arises  as  in 

the  New  Haven  suit.  On  the  one  side  it  is  claimed  that  the 
issue  of  certain  stock  was  unauthorized.  On  the  other  the 
Company  and  their  counsel  believed  that  issue  to  be  legal. 
So  with  the  guaranty  of  bonds  which  are  made  part  of 
the  litigation.  They  should  all  be  included  in  one  suit.  We 
have  included  every  person  as  a  party  who  has,  or  is  believed 
to  have  an  interest.  We  submit  that  this  is  a  proper  and 
respectful  proceeding. 

The  injunction  is  not  extraordinary,  except  so  far  as  a  jus- 
tice of  this  court  being  a  party  can  be  considered  so.  But 
judges  are,  after  all,  men,  and  may  be  made  parties  to  a  suit. 
It  is  not  such  a  wonderful  thing  that  parties  should  be  enjoined 
from  suing.  In  the  Amidon  suit  there  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  defendants,  all  retained  from  suing.  When  a  receiver 
is  appointed  all  suits  are  stopped.  Our  duty  is  done  when 
we  have  produced  to  the  Court  a  legal  stay  of  proceedings  ; 
whoever  violates  that  order  violates  the  law  ;  and  in  a  court 
of  law  that  should  be  enough. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  II5 

Judge  Barnard. — In  regard  to  the  last  order  of  Justice 
Gierke,  I  have  been  informed  by  a  majority  of  my  colleagues 
that  as  far  as  it  restrains  my  action  it  is  invalid.  As  far  as 
concerns  my  own  interest  in  the  matter,  any  one  who  reads 
these  proceedings  will  see  that  the  charge  is  entirely  false. 

I  shall  vacate  Judge  Gierke's  order  granted  on  the  i6th 
instant,  and  at  once  perfect  the  order  appointing  Mr.  Osgood 
receiver,  and  approve  the  sureties  when  offered." 

At  four  o'clock  this  order  was  settled,  after  a  debate  over 
technical  points,  and  was  entered  with  Mr.  McKean,  the  re- 
gular Glerk  of  the  Gourt  having  been  enjoined  from  acting. 

Mr.  Field  then  moved,  on  an  affidavit  of  D.  B.  Eaton,  that 
the  Erie  Railway  Gompany  intended  in  good  faith  to  appeal, 
and  asked  for  a  stay  of  proceedings. 

Judge  Barnard  (sternly).  The  defendants  are  in  gross 
contempt,  and  their  proceedings  have  been  such  as  in  the 
opinion  of  the  presiding  justice,  are  not  warranted  by  the  po- 
sition of  the  case.     The  motion  is  denied. 

Mr.  Field  (excitedly,  but  with  great  dignity). — I  shall  take 
the  liberty  to  apply  to  any  other  judge  of  this  Gourt  for  this 
order. 

Judge  Barnard  (slowly  and  with  emphasis).  And  I  to  vacate 
such  order. 

Mr.  Field. — I  shall  endeavor  to  obtain  justice  in  the  case. 

This  joust  between  Judge  Barnard  and  David  Dudley  Field, 
one  of  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  New  York  bar,  created 
a  great  deal  of  discussion  during  the  day  among  the  legal 
fraternity,  and  on  the  following  morning  the  papers  were 
almost  unanimous  in  their  denunciation  of  Judge  Barnard's 
singular  action. 

Before  night,  another  startling  story  came  across  from 
"  Fort  Taylor,"  as  the  Erie  head-quarters  in  Jersey  Gity  were 


Il6  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

now  called.  Another  attempt  to  kidnap  the  mild  and  placid 
Uncle  Daniel,  the  rollicking  Fisk,  the  keen-eyed  and  reticent 
Gould,  and  their  fellow  exiles  !  For  a  while  it  was  believed 
that  an  effort  was  about  to  be  made  to  take  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  vietarmis,  but  with  the  saloons,  hails,  staircases,  lobbies, 
corridors,  steps,  pavements,  cellars,  garrets,  and  roof  of  Tay- 
lor's Hotel  packed  with  armed  men  furnished  by  the  authori- 
ties, and  drawn  from  the  Erie  shops,  the  good  people  of  Jersey 
City  lost  their  fear,  and  went  to  bed  that  night  fully  satisfied  that 
their  commonwealth  was  safe  from  the  assaults  of  any  for- 
eign enemy.  Poor  Uncle  Daniel  was  terribly  frightened,  but 
Fisk  looked  upon  the  reported  attempt  of  the  roughs  as  a 
very  good  joke,  and  while  he  pUed  his  garrison  with  cham- 
pagne and  cigars,  and  distributed  liberal  supplies  of  green- 
backs among  them,  he  lost  no  opportunity  to  play  upon 
Drew's  fears  and  make  him  the  common  butt  of  ridicule- 
But  the  attacking  party  did  not  appear,  and  "  Fort  Taylor" 
was  intact. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  llj 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

On  the  2oth  of  March  the  Eric  War  broke  out  at  Albany 
before  the  Assembly  Committee  on  Railroads,  and  waxed 
hotter  and  hotter  as  the  day  wore  on.  It  had  now  assumed 
the  proportions  of  a  contest  in  which  the  opposing  lines  of 
battle  were  long  drawn  out,  and  in  which  the  sound  of  the 
fray  on  the  right  could  hardly  be  heard  by  the  forces  on  the 
left,  miles  and  miles  away.  It  was  a  warm  fight,  but  although 
the  foemen  were  at  close  quarters,  and  "  as  fire  answered  fire, 
and  through  their  paly  flames,  each  battle  saw  the  other's  um- 
bered face,"  there  was  little  damage  done.  The  Committee 
met  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  arguments  with  reference  to 
the  bill  to  legalize  stock  issued  by  the  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany. John  Ganson,  John  H.  Reynolds,  Samuel  Hand,  and 
Hamilton  Harris,  all  distinguished  lawyers,  appeared  for  the 
bill ;  and  Charles  O'Conor,  Horace  F.  Clark,  Sandford  E. 
Church,  James  C.  Spencer,  and  C.  M.  Depew,  equally  well 
known,  against  it.  Mr.  Ganson  argued  that  the  stock  was 
issued  for  the  purpose  of  improving  and  equipping  the  road, 
and  making  further  Western  connections,  and  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  protect  the  Company  in  its 
efforts  to  accommodate  the  public. 

Mr.  Clark,  representing  the  Vanderbilt  interest,  opened  an 
argument  in  reply,  but  was  obliged  to  stop  on  account  of 
indisposition. 

Charles  O'Conor  held  that  the  Company  was  liable  for  all 
the  stock  issued,  and  asserted  that  the  greater  part  of  it  was 
held  by  opponents  of  the  bill. 


Il8  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

On  the  23cl  the  arguments  were  continued,  Charles  O'Con- 
or  opening  in  a  scathing  denunciation  of  the  bill.  He  was 
followed  by  John  Ganson  and  De  Witt  C.  Littlejohn,  whose 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  bill  may  be  thus  briefly  sum- 
med up  : 

They  claimed  that  the  friends  of  the  bill  legalizing  the  acts 
of  the  Directors  had  nothing  to  do  with  stock-jobbing  opera- 
tions, and  it  was  not  passed  with  the  view  of  giving  them 
facilities  as  speculators.  If  frauds  had  been  committed,  or 
parties  had  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  trust,  the  courts  were 
open  for  redress,  and  nothing  contained  in  the  bill  would 
affect  such  action.  The  Erie  Company  had  not  appeared 
before  the  Committee  at  their  own  instance,  but  because  the 
Committee  of  Investigation  had  been  raised  in  the  Senate, 
thus  throwing  doubt  upon  the  action  of  the  Company.  The 
true  nature  of  the  war  waged  in  Wall  street,  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  before  the  Legislature,  upon  the  Directors  of  the 
Erie  Company,  was  not  thoroughly  understood.  It  was 
looked  upon  as  a  contest  affecting  the  interests  of  the  stock- 
holders alone,  and  since  large  dividends  were  promised  by  the 
Vanderbilt  party,  while  the  policy  of  Eldridge  and  his  associ- 
ciates  was  to  expend  the  earnings  of  the  road,  as  well  as  the 
proceeds  of  loans  and  new  stock,  in  improving  the  track, 
extending  the  Western  connections,  and  generally  increasing 
their  ability  to  carry  freight  and  passengers,  great  sympathy 
was  expressed  for  the  former.  In  the  eyes  of  many,  a  railroad 
is  a  mere  money-making  machine,  and  the  only  way  in  which 
they  judge  whether  its  management  is  good  or  bad,  is  by 
measuring  its  annual  profits.  Mr.  Eldridge  could  not  make 
as  much  money  as  Mr.  Vanderbilt  claimed  he  could ;  there- 
fore, it  was  said,  let  the  concern  be  handed  over  to  Mr. 
Vanderbilt.     This  was  the  line  of  argument  adopted  by  Mr. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  II9 

Vandcrbilt's  counsel.  But  those  who  were  misled  by  this 
kind  of  reasoning  forget  that  Mr.  Vanderbilt  could  pay  more 
money  over  to  the  Erie  stockholders,  in  the  shape  of  divi- 
dends, only  by  taking  more  than  was  then  taken  out  of  the 
pockets  of  the  people  who  depended  upon  the  road  for  pas- 
sage and  freight.  If  he  added  to  the  gross  receipts,  he  must 
add  to  the  fares  and  the  rates  of  freight.  If  he  diminished 
expenses,  it  would  be  by  stopping  the  outlay  for  new  cars, 
locomotives,  iron  and  buildings,  and  thus  diminishing  the 
usefulness  of  the  road.  It  was  not  pretended  that  he  and  his 
sons  and  sons-in-law  were  any  more  honest  than  Mr.  Eld- 
ridge  and  the  Board  of  Directors.  The  accusation  against 
them  was  that  the}'-  were  running  the  road  at  too  low  fig- 
ures, or  were  spending  its  earnings  in  permanent  improve- 
ments, instead  of  dividing  them  among  the  stockholders.  If 
Mr.  Vanderbilt  should  gain  control  of  the  road,  he  would 
endeavor  to  increase  fares  and  freights,  thereby  oppressing 
the  public  for  the  benefit  of  stockholders. 

The  general  feeling  seemed  to  be  in  favor  of  the  Erie  bill, 
and  the  following  extract  from  the  editorial  columns  of  a 
leading  New  York  paper  gives  fair  expression  to  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment : 

"  Any  one  who  remembers  how  Vanderbilt  used  to  manage 
his  steamboats  in  the  days  when  he  owned  steamboats,  or  who 
looks  at  the  miserable  cars,  worn-out  tracks,  and  scanty  train 
accommodations  which  now  characterize  the  Hudson  River, 
Harlem,  and  New  York  Central  railroads,  under  his  admin- 
istration, can  judge  what  the  fate  of  the  traveling  and  freight- 
sending  public  would  be,  if  the  sole  obstacle  to  the  full  grat- 
ification of  his  economical  propensities  presented  by  the 
competition  of  the  Erie  road  were  removed.  The  stock- 
holders might  or  might  not  get  greater  dividends,  but  the 


120  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

citizens  of  New  York  and  the  farmers  of  the  West  would  be 
squeezed  for  their  benefit ;  and  for  every  dollar  they  re- 
ceived, we  should  lose  ten  from  the  interference  with  busi- 
ness which  would  be  caused  by  the  Vanderbilt  policy.  On 
general  principles,  too,  apart  from  the  special  circumstances 
of  the  contest  to  which  we  now  refer,  the  public  ought  to 
resolutely  discountenance  the  system  of  railroad  combina- 
tions and  monopolies  which  is  getting  to  be  so  much  the 
fashion.  Sitting  by  and  idly  or  approvingly  witnessing  the 
consummation  of  schemes  which  can  have  no  other  result,  if 
carried  out,  than  to  levy  tribute  upon  every  passenger  and 
every  pound  of  freight  passing  between  this  city  and  the 
West  is  the  hight  of  folly.  This  metropolis  derives  all  its 
prosperity  and  all  its  greatness  from  the  cheapness  and  facil- 
ity with  which  goods  and  passengers  can  be  carried  to  and 
from  it  in  every  direction.  The  avenues  of  communication 
with  it  being  now  in  rival  hands,  competition  tends  to  pro- 
duce lower  prices  and  increased  accommodations.  Let, 
however,  this  rivalry  and  this  competition  be  stopped  by  a 
consolidation  of  interests,  and  we  shall  find  ourselves  at  the 
mercy  of  a  gigantic  monopoly,  whose  only  merit  will  be  the 
doubling  and  trebling  of  its  dividends  at  the  pubhc  expense. 
Legislation  will  be  powerless  before  the  corruption  of  the 
monopolizers,  and  the  people  will  be  pillaged  by  them  with- 
out defense.  In  view  of  such  considerations,  we  have  done 
what  we  could  to  awaken  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  a 
sense  of  the  peril  which,  threatens  them,  and  we  trust  that 
our  efforts  have  not  been  in  vain.  Already  the  Legislature 
has  under  consideration  a  bill  for  the  protection  of  the  Erie 
Railroad,  and  we  are  informed  that  another  bill  looking  to 
the  conversion  of  the  Erie  Canal  tow-path  into  a  public  line 
of  rails,  is  soon  to  be  reported.     These  measures  will  effect- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  121 

ually  defeat  the  Vandcrbilt  schemes,  and  we  trust  they  may 
be  at  once  adopted." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Uncle  Daniel  grew  tired  of  life  in  barracks.  He  did 
not  like  Jersey  City.  He  missed  the  cheering  outlook  upon 
Wall  street  during  a  storm,  and  longed  to  be  where  he 
could  aid  in  raising  one. 

Sunday  being  a  dies  iion  in  law,  the  exiles  ran  no  risk  in 
passing  that  day  in  New  York;  so,  promptly  at  12  o'clock 
on  Saturday  night,  the  eager  band  filed  down  from  the  fort 
to  the  ferry-house,  and  within  a  few  minutes  were  on  the 
old  stamping  ground,  safe  from  the  officers  of  the  law  for 
twenty-four  good  hours.  This  they  did  regularly  while 
they  remained  in  exile. 

Gould,  Fisk  and  Eldridge,  of  course,  opined  that  the  pious 
Uncle  Daniel  was  in  the  habit  of  spending  the  Sabbath  with 
his  family,  and  at  his  favorite  church  in  Fourth  Avenue, 
where  he  delighted  to  exhibit  pride  in  his  humility,  by  pass- 
ing the  money-plate. 

An  accident  aroused  suspicion  against  the  old  man.  Fisk 
sent  for  his  best  detective. 

"  Sam,"  said  he,  "I  have  a  lingering  notion  that  hypocrisy 
is  a  disease  that  all  the  sulphur  in  the  other  place  can't  drive 
out  of  a  man's  system,  and  I've  always  thought  that  old 
Drew  had  it  bad.  He  's  playing  points  on  us,  and  I  want 
you  t3  watch  him.     When  we  trot  off  next  Saturday  night 


122  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

to  prepare  for  worship  on  Sunday  in  New  York,  keep  your 
eye  on  Uncle  Dan.  Shadow  him  till  he  gets  right  here 
again.     Find  out  where  he  goes,  and  report  to  me." 

Saturday  night  came.  Uncle  Dan  disappeared  after  the 
party  reached  the  New  York  side,  and,  taking  a  carriage, 
drove  to  his  home.  The  detective  was  close  behind  him, 
accompanied  by  a  trusty  assistant,  who  watched  the  Drew 
mansion  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  In  the  morning  Sam 
relieved  him,  and  stood  "  on  post,"  patiently  awaiting  devel- 
opments. At  about  ten  o'clock  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  the  venerable  object  of  his  anxiety  emerge  from  his 
front  door.  In  a  moment  a  carriage  drove  up,  and  Uncle 
Daniel  entered  it. 

"  Oh,"  said  Sam  to  himself,  '*  the  old  coon's  going  to 
church,  I  guess." 

Detectives  sometimes  guess  wrong.  The  shrewd  Sam 
did  in  this  case.  Daniel  Drew  saw  not  the  inside  of  any 
holy  place  that  blessed  day. 

The  carriage,  closely  followed  by  Sam  in  a  light  cab, 
which  he  had  kept  near  at  hand,  drove  to  the  city  residence 
of  Commodore  Vanderbilt.  Uncle  Daniel  ahghted,  walked 
slowly  up  the  steps,  rang  the  bell,  and  in  a  moment  was 
out  of  Sam's  range  of  vision. 

The  detective  hastened  back  to  Jersey  City,  and  made  his 
report.  He  found  Fisk  in  a  frenzy.  It  had  just  been  dis- 
covered that  the  wily  Drew  had  "  conveyed  "  the  funds  of 
the  Company ;  and  the  information  that  he  was  in  consulta- 
tion with  their  enemy,  Vanderbilt,  only  confirmed  the  exiles 
in  their  belief  that  they  were  in  a  close  place,  and  that  all 
their  ingenuity  and  boldness  would  be  required  to  extricate 
them. 

All  day  Monday,  Drew  was  absent.     He  was  playing  a 


JAMES   I'lSK,   JR.  123 

shrewd  game ;  but  one  of  his  intended  victims  was  too  wide 
awake  to  be  cheated.  Fisk,  knowing  that  Drew  had  depos- 
ited a  very  heavy  amount  of  his  private  funds  in  a  Jersey 
City  bank,  sued  out  an  attachment,  and  had  the  money 
placed  beyond  Drew's  reach. 

On  Tuesday,  Uncle  Daniel  returned.  He  met  his  col- 
leagues with  many  smiles,  and  gave  plausible  excuses  for  his 
absence. 

"  Never  mind  that.  Uncle  Daniel,"  said  Fisk,  with  a  gay 
laugh ;  "  we're  all  so  glad  to  see  you  back.  You  have  n't 
any  idea  how  anxious  we  were  about  you.  'Fraid  the  sheriff 
had  put  his  unholy  hands  upon  your  person,  and  that  )'ou 
would  never  meet  our  gaze  again.  But,"  added  he,  in  a 
different  tone,  as  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  Drew's,  and  spoke 
with  a  peculiar  emphasis,  "  how  did  you  leave  the  Commo- 
dore ?" 

Drew  was  startled.  How  did  that  secret  leak  out  ?  Was 
it  possible  that  Fisk  could  have  followed  him  ? 

"  And  what  have  you  done  with  our  money,  you  damned 
old  hypocrite  ?"  continued  Fisk,  while  Gould  and  Eldridgc 
sat  by  in  silence,  enjoying  the  consternation  of  the  aged 
trickster,  and  anticipating  a  richer  scene  when  he  should 
learn  how  his  pupil  had  outwitted  him. 

"  Why,  Jeems,  ain't  I  Treasurer  of  the  Company  ?" 

"  That's  all  right,"  replied  Fisk  ;  "  but  we  want  to  know 
what  the  Treasurer  has  done  with  our  money." 

"  Well,  it  wasn't  safe  here  ;  so  I  tuck  it  to  York,"  whined 
Uncle  Daniel. 

"  That  won't  hold  water,  Daniel  Drew,"  said  Fisk,  twitch- 
ing his  moustache  ;  "  but  I've  no  doubt  it's  all  right,  since 
you  say  so.  We  all  know  you  would  n't  lie — O,  no  ;  you 
couldn't  if  you  tried,  you  damned  sanctimonious  old  goosy 


124  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

gander.  But,  Daniel,  when  )-ou  try  to  bamboozle  us,  to 
throw  dust  into  our  eyes,  to  play  points,  or  to  circumvent 
us,  and  try  to  be  best  dog  in  the  fight  a/l  the  time,  why, 
then,  you  must  stay  over  in  Jersey,  and  breathe  the  invigor- 
ating air  of  the  Flats.  I  was  afraid  jour  money  was  n't  safe, 
Daniel,  so  I  had  it  attached,  for  fear,  you  know,  that  some 
unauthorized  cuss  might  get  hold  of  it,  and  squander  it  in 
riotous  living." 

DreAv's  astonishment,  chagrin  and  rage  knew  no  bounds. 
How  blind  he  had  been,  not  to  know  that  his  pupil  had  stud- 
ied with  an  object  in  view  the  many  lessons  he  himself  had 
set  him  !  The  old  man  walked  up  and  down  the  room  with 
hands  crossed  behind  his  back,  and  eyes  cast  down.  For 
two  minutes  there  was  perfect  silence. 

Suddenly  Drew  came  to  a  full  stop.  Turning  to  Fisk  with 
a  smile  on  his  face  intended  to  be  winning,  he  said  : 

"  Well,  Jeems,  you  are  about  as  keen  as  you  need  to  be. 
How  kin  we  compromise  this?" 

"  Bring  back  our  money,"  said  Fisk. 

The  next  day  the  Erie  funds  were  again  in  the  safe,  and 
the  attachment  on  Drew's  bank  funds  removed. 

But  Daniel's  clandestine  visits  to  Commodore  Vanderbilt 
continued,  and  his  companions  in  exile  kept  their  own  counsel 
in  regard  to  their  knowledge  of  the  fact,  never  by  a  word 
allowing  Drew  to  think  that  he  was  even  suspected. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  12$ 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

The  secret  meetings  between  Vanderbilt  and  Drew  were 
regularly  kept  up,  and  at  last  resulted  in  giving  the  Commo- 
dore an  assurance  that  he  would  have  no  trouble  in  bringing 
Erie  ultimately  into  his  hands.  He  learned  from  Drew,  who 
was  uncommonly  communicative,  that  no  more  stock  should 
be  issued,  and  this  was  the  point  which  he  most  desired  to  gain. 
He  redoubled  his  efforts  to  control  the  action  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  the  railroad  matter,  and  with  the  power  of  immense 
wealth  to  back  him  he  succeeded  in  having  the  Erie  bill  killed 
on  the  27th  of  March  by  a  vote  of  83  to  32. 

Two  days  previous  to  this  decisive  action  of  the  Albany 
Legislature,  Jay  Gould  made  public  some  singular  facts  which 
were  embodied  in  the  following  affidavit,  and  some  of  which 
have  been  already  given  in  a  preceding  chapter: 

"  State  of  Nezv  Jersey,  County  of  Hudson :  Jay  Gould  being 
duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  That  he  is  acquainted  with 
the  various  parties  on  both  sides  of  the  Erie  litigations,  in- 
cluding Messrs.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  Daniel  Drew  ;  that 
previous  to  the  last  annual  election  of  Directors  of  the  Erie 
Railway  Company,  deponent  had  a  large  interest  in  the  stock 
of  the  company,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  canvass  which 
resulted  in  a  change  of  management ;  and  while  said  canvass 
was  progressing,  deponent  came  in  contact  with  said  Corne- 
lius Vanderbilt,  Richard  Schell,  Frank  Work  and  Daniel 
Drew.     The  canvass  was  made  against  said  Drew  on  the 


126  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

part  of  deponent  and  associates ;  shortly  after  deponent  had 
enlisted  in  the  aforesaid  contest,  at  the  request  of  Richard 
Schell  and  C.  C.  Norvell,  the  financial  editor  of  the  New 
York  Times,  who  gave  the  deponent  a  letter  of  introduction, 
deponent  called  upon  Charles  A.  Rapallo,  who  was  engaged 
in  drawing  up  a  complaint  against  Daniel  Drew  concerning 
his  alleged  contracts  with  the  Erie  Railway  Company  and 
substantially  the  same  suit  recently  instituted  before  Judge 
Barnard,  in  which  Frank  Work  is  plaintiff.  At  this  inter- 
view Mr.  Rapallo  read  deponent  the  complaint  as  far  as  com- 
pleted, and  stated  that  he  had  spent  most  of  the  previous 
Sunday  with  the  Commodore  at  his  house,  going  over  and 
correcting  the  complaint.  Mr.  Rapallo  wished  to  procure 
certain  facts  and  information,  which  deponent  procured  or 
aided  him  in  procuring,  and  the  complaint  was  accordingly 
perfected.  And  deponent  further  says,  that  during  the  said 
canvass,  deponent  counted  as  with  him  a  block  of  about  ten 
thousand  shares,  standing  in  the  name  of  Work,  Davis,  and 
Barton ;  this  had  been  promised  verbally,  and  deponent  had 
in  consideration  given  Mr.  Vanderbilt  an  agreement  to  put 
said  Frank  Work  in  said  Board  as  his  representative.  As 
the  canvass  was  drawing  to  a  close,  deponent  called  upon 
Mr.  Work  for  the  proxy,  in  accordance  with  the  verbal 
agreement  above  stated.  Mr.  Work  then  informed  deponent 
that  he  could  not  give  the  proxy  without  the  consent  of  Mr. 
Vanderbilt;  that  evening  deponent  met  Mr.  Vanderbilt, 
Richard  Schell  and  Frank  Work  at  the  Manhattan  Club.  Mr. 
Vanderbilt  at  first  said  he  would  not  consent  to  give  the 
proxy,  because  he  feared  he  would  join  hands  with  Daniel 
Drew.  It  was  finally  arranged  that  I  should  give  a  bond 
with  certain  penalty,  the  bond  to  be  void  if  we  defeated 
Drew  ;  but  good  if  he  were  elected.     This  bond  deponent 


.MsJ%^^^ 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  1 29 

signed.  After  it  was  done,  Mr.  Work  gave  deponent  his 
proxy  upon  said  10,000  shares  of  stock.  The  reason  stated 
to  deponent  why  Mr.  Vanderbilt  was  anxious  to  defeat  Mr. 
Drew  was  that  Mr.  Drew  was  bearing  stocks,  and  was  finally 
instrumental  in  producing  the  money  stringency,  which  took 
place  just  previous ;  that  Drew  had  several  miUions  on  de- 
posit, and  knowing  that  Mr.  Vanderbilt  and  his  friends  were 
carrying  a  large  amount  of  stock,  never  offered  them  any  as- 
sistance. And  deponent  further  says,  that  on  the  Sunday  pre- 
vious to  the  election,  Mr.  Drew,  then  knowing  his  defeat  to 
be  certain,  went  to  see  Mr.  Vanderbilt ;  that  at  that  interview 
Mr.  Vanderbilt  read  over  the  complaint  and  injunction  in  the 
Frank  Work  suit  to  Drew  ;  the  result  of  that  interview  was 
that  Vanderbilt  and  Drew  struck  hands  together,  and  Drew 
agreed  to  go  in  with  Vanderbilt  and  his  friends  and  bull 
Erie  with  them.  Schell  then  came  to  see  deponent  and  Eld- 
rido-e,  and  invited  us  to  meet  the  Commodore  at  his  house 
that  evening.  We  went  accordingly,  Vanderbilt,  Schell,  Eld- 
ridge  and  myself,  to  Mr.  Vanderbilt's  house.  Mr.  Vanderbilt 
had  a  programme  arranged  as  follows  : 

"  I.  New  Board  to  guarantee  the  ?4,ooo,ooo  of  Boston, 
Hartford  and  Erie  Railway  bonds. 

"  2.  All  expenses  attending  the  canvass  were  to  be  paid. 
(Mr.  Vanderbilt  said  we  could  come  there  after  the  election 
and  get  the  check  through  him  and  Mr.  Gould's  bond  was 
to  be  cancelled.) 

"  3.  The  following  to  be  the  Board :  C.  Vanderbilt,  Daniel 
Drew,  Horace  Clark,  James  H.  Banker,  Augustus  Schell, 
William  H.  Vanderbilt,  John  S.  Eldridge,  Henry  Thompson, 
Jay  Gould,  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  General  Diven,  and  others 
whose  names  deponent  cannot  now  recollect.  To  the  pro- 
position No.  I,  all  assented,  Schell,  Eldridge,  Vanderbilt  and 
8 


130  '  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

m3'self.  To  the  second  and  third,  we  replied,  that  we  had 
gone  through  the  canvass  anti-Drew  men ;  that  we  could  not 
honorably  change  front.  Mn.  Vanderbilt  insisted  that  Drew 
should  go  upon  the  ticket.  Some  rather  plain  talk  ensued, 
and  we  left  without,  of  course,  assenting  to  the  said  third 
proposition.  We  gave  as  a  reason  that  the  combination 
between  him  and  Mr.  Drew  had  taken  us  by  surprise,  and  we 
wanted  time  to  think  of  it.  After  leaving  Vanderbilt's,  and 
on  my  way  up-town,  deponent  called  on  Mr.  Drew ;  a  few 
moments  after,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  came-  in  and  Mr.  Drew  saw 
him  in  the  back  room,  his  dining-room.  Deponent  wished  to 
get  some  light  or  explanation  in  regard  to  the  sudden  aUiance 
between  Vanderbilt  and  Drew.  Drew  afterward  informed 
deponent  that  at  that  interview  Vanderbilt  asked  him  if  Diven 
could  be  depended  upon  to  take  responsibilities,  and  proposed 
that  the  election  be;  adjourned,  and  no  election  had  ;  thus  leav- 
ing the  old  Board  to  hold  over ;  and  deponent  further  says  that 
in  order  to  concihate  INIr.  Vanderbilt,  it  was  afterwards  arrang- 
ed that  after  the  election  a  vacancy  should  be  made  in  the 
Board  and  Mr.  Drew  substituted  to  fill  the  vacancy ;  but  the 
other  names  mentioned  by  Mr.  Vanderbilt  were  not  upon  the 
ticket,  and  deponent  further  says  that  subsequently  a  '  pool,' 
as  it  is  called  in  Wall  street,  was  formed  to  buy  ^9,000,000  of 
Erie  stock.  Among  the  parties  interested  in  such  combina- 
tion were  Vanderbilt,  Drew,  Richard  Schell,  John  Steward, 
James  H.  Banker;  and  that  all  of  the  said  parties  were 
operating  together  in  said  '  pool'  until  about  the  last  of  Jan- 
uary last,  when  it  was  closed  up,  the  stock  sold  and  profits 
divided ;  that  after  said  '  pool'  was  closed  tip  the  said  Schell 
was  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  said  deponent,  and  said 
to  said  deponent  that  Drew  had  cheated  the  '  pool,'  and  that 
he  should  follow  him  on  his  contract  with  the  Company. 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  I3I 

He  said  to  deponent  that  he  had  no^  fight  with  any  other 
Director  excepting-  Drew,  and  with  him  because,  as  he  al- 
leged, he  had  cheated  in  the  '  pool ;'  and  deponent  is  informed 
and  beHeves  that  after  the  suits  were  brought  said  Schell 
went  to  General  Diven  and  offered  to  withdraw  them  if  Mr. 
Drew  would  take  the  5,500  shares  of  stock  off  his  hands  at 
75,  or  pa}^  r20,ooo  to  the  poor  of  New  York;  but  said  propo- 
sition was  declined.  The  suits  referred  to  are  those  in  the 
name  of  Frank  Work,  which  said  suits  he  assumed  to  con- 
trol ;  the  suit  in  which  said  Schell  was  plaintiff  was  subse- 
quently commenced  ;  and  deponent  further  says  that  he  was 
induced  to  vote  for  the  guarantee  of  the  $4,000,000  of  the  B. 
H.  &  E.  Railroad  bonds,  partly  because  Messrs  Schell  and 
Vanderbilt  approved  of  it  at  a  meeting  heretofore  referred 
to,  on  a  Sunday  evening  at  Vanderbilt's  house  ;  and  partly 
because  the  old  Board  had  agreed  to  it.  That  deponent  was 
never  interested  in  the  bonds  or  stock  of  said  Company,  his 
sole  interest  being  the  Erie  Railway  Company  ;  but  depon- 
ent has  been  since  informed  and  beheves  that  said  Schell  was 
in  the  interest  of  the  B.  H.  &  E.  Railway  Company,  and 
actually  received  1000  shares  of  the  stock  of  that  Company 
as  a  consideration  for  his  influence  in  aiding  to  secure  the 
passage  of  the  resolution  authorizing  the  guarantee  of  said 
(4,000,000  of  bonds  against  which  he  now  complains. 

"  (Signed)  Jay  Gould. 

"Subscribed  and  sworn  March  25,  1868. 

"  Charles  C.  Martindale, 

''  Notary  Public:' 

On  the  same  day  the  following-  statement  was  made  by  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  the  Erie  Railway  Compan}-,  con- 
tradicting the  charge  that  the  $10,000,000  new  stock  was 


132  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

issued  without  the  surrender  of  an  equal  amount  of  bonds, 

etc. 

*  Office  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company, 

"Jersey  City,  March,  25,  1868. 

"  To  THE  Public. — The  report  in  some  of  the  morning 
papers  said  to  have  originated  in  Albany,  that  the  100,000 
shares  of  new  stock  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  were 
issued,  without  the  surrender  of  an  equal  amount  of  con- 
vertible bonds  previously  issued,  and  that  the  proceeds  of  the 
bonds  so  issued  were  not  paid  into  the  treasury,  is  entirely 
without  foundation. 

"  The  truth  is,  that  the  whole  amount  of  convertible  bonds 
(;io,ooo,ooo)  was  issued  (as  we  believe  legall}^)  and  sold,  and 
the  proceeds  were  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Company, 
and  not  a  dollar  of  the  stock  has  been  issued  except  upon 
the  surrender  of  an  equal  amount  of  convertible  bonds." 

On  the  30th,  after  a  long  consultation  between  the  defeated 
and  chagrined  Directors,  now  known  as  the  "  Exiles  of  Erie," 
Jay  Gould  ran  up  to  Albany  with  a  full  pocket-book  and  with 
carte  blanche  to  use  as  much  money  as  might  be  found  ne- 
cessary to  change  the  sentiment  (or  the  votes)  of  the  law- 
makers ;  and  to  give  them  in  his  own  clear,  terse,  and  vigor- 
ous language,  good  reasons  v/hy  they  should  repent  of  their 
error  and  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  Company  which  he  so 
well  represented.  His  rooms  at  the  best  hotel  in  Albany 
became  at  once  the  favorite  resort  of  a  large  number  of  the 
people's  servants,  all  "  Honorables"  by  virtue  of  their  office, 
but  honorable  only  in  title. 

Affairs  were  moving  along  pleasantly,  when  to  Mr.  Gould's 
intense  disgust  there  appeared  to  him  one  morning  a  deputy 
sheriff,  armed  with  a  summons  issued  by  Judge  George  G. 
Barnard,  ordering  him  to  appear  before  him,  the  said  Judge, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I33 

immediately,  or  to  give  bail  in  $50,000  to  appear  on  the  fol- 
lowing Saturday.  The  required  bail  was  given,  and  Mr. 
Gould,  with  mind  now  at  ease,  was  ready  to  proceed  with 
the  delicate  business  he  had  in  hand. 


i 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Jay  Gould  appeared  before  Judge  Barnard  on  the  day 
named  in  his  bond,  and  immediately  returned  to  Alban}-,  only 
to  discover  after  a  few  daj^s  that  he  had  been  badly  sold  by 
the  very  legislators  whom  he  had  bought  at  high  prices. 
The  report  of  the  investigating  committee  of  the  Legislature 
was  favorable  to  the  Vanderbilt  interest.  To  say  the  least, 
the  action  of  the  lawmakers  was  inconsistent  and  illogical. 
The  new  stock  issued  by  the  Erie  Directors  was  either  legal 
or  illegal.  If  legal,  then  the  committee  stultified  themselves 
b}^  reporting  against  it.  If  illegal,  they  were  none  the  less 
wanting  in  judgment  when  they  acted  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  Vanderbilt,  who  at  the  ver}'  time  he  was  laboring  to 
have  the  stock  branded  as  counterfeit  or  worthless,  had 
bought  no  less  than  ;*  8,000,000  of  it.  The  mone}-  paid  for  the 
stock  was  now  under  lock  and  key  in  the  Erie  Railway  office 
at  Fort  Taylor  in  Jersey  City,  and  thus  withdrawn  from  the 
money  market.  The  buyers  on  the  street  were  necessarily 
borrowers,  and  had  drained  the  banks  to  carry  their  heavy 
loads.  The  effect  was  telling  upon  the  general  community, 
and  nerchants  of  the  best  credit  found  it  ditlicult  to  procure 


,    134  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

accommodation.  It  was  evident  that  if  this  state  of  things 
continued,  the  most  serious  results  would  be  experienced  at 
an  earl}^  da}'. 

The  situation  was  a  peculiar  one  at  this  stage  of  the  war. 
Vanderbilt  seemed  to  be  working  to  depreciate  the  property 
for  which  he  had  paid  millions  ;  and  the  reading  and  thinking 
pubHc  were  not  slow  to  believe  that  motives  other  than  those 
which  appeared,  must  have  occasioned  so  strange  a  reversal 
of  all  experience  among  owners  of  valuable  property.  The 
people  argued  that  if  the  stock  sold  to  Vanderbilt  was  un- 
lawful stock,  he  could  recover  his  money  at  any  time  by  due 
process  of  law  ;  but  what  was  wanted  Vv^as  the  money  in  cir- 
culation, and  the  improved  railway  accommodations  it  would 
provide.  Vanderbilt's  plan  of  discrediting  the  Directors  of 
the  Erie  Company  could  only  result  in  locking  up  the  money 
indefinitely  and  in  giving  him  a  doubtful  cause  of  action,  at 
best,  against  the  Directors  as  individuals.  The  public  inter- 
est demanded  that  Vanderbilt  should  be  protected  in  his  in- 
vestments and  that  the  stock  which  he  had  purchased  should 
be  declared  vaHd  ;  and  this  the  Legislature  had  power  to  do. 
The  action  of  the  Legislature  in  reporting  against  the  Erie 
Directors  met  with  almost  universal  condemnation. 

March  27th  was  an  exciting  day  in  the  Legislature.  The 
Erie  bill  was  the  main  question  before  the  Assembly,  and 
after  a  sharp  fight  it  was  defeated.  A  telegraphic  dispatch 
to  the  New  York  press  briefly  announced  the  fact  and  closed 
thus  : 

"  The  Erie  managers  abandoned  the  contest  last  evening, 
and  the  chief  of  them  took  French  leave,  to  the  great  disap- 
pointment of  the  lobby  and  m.any  of  the  members,  who  had 
reckoned  on  a  severe  struggle  to-day  to  overcome  the  report 
of  the  committee,  which  it  was  known  was  to  be  adverse. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  I35 

The  air  is  full  of  rumors  as  to  the  means  by  which  the  tri- 
umph of  the  Vanderbilt  party  was  secured,  but  it  will  not  do 
to  repeat  thcj/i." 

On  the  ist  of  April  the  Committee  appointed  to  investigate 
the  affairs  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company  presented  the  fol- 
lowing- report,  through  Mr.  Pierce,  of  the  majority: 

"The  conclusions  of  the  majority  are  that  the  evidence 
must  satisfy  any  fair-minded  man  that  the  issue  of  the 
^10,000,000  bonds  subsequently  converted  into  stock,  was 
procured  by  Drew  to  be  used  by  himself  for  private  specula- 
tion, and  utterly  regardless  of  the  interests  of  those  whom  he 
was  bound  to  respect.  It  is  believed  that  Eldridge,  the 
President,  and  Fisk  and  Gould,  Directors,  were  concerned, 
and  probably  interested  with  Drew  in  these  corrupt  proceed- 
ings. These  men,  to  escape  process  of  our  courts,  whose 
mandates  they  have  violated,  have  sought  shelter  in  New 
Jersey.  Your  Committee  caused  these  men  to  be  personally 
notified  for  examination,  but  they  refused  to  trust  themselves 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State.  Your  Committee  is  in- 
formed that  they  have  applied  to  the  Legislature  of  New 
Jersey  for  protection,  but  cannot  believe  that  the  authorities 
of  that  State  will  interfere  with  the  chartered  powers  of  a 
corporation  created  by  this  State,  or  attempt  to  shield  offi- 
cers from  the  merited  responsibilities  of  their  conduct.  There 
are  other  transactions  involving  the  dealing  of  the  Directors 
with  the  Company,  of  a  highly  reprehensible  character,  the 
particulars  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  evidence  submitted. 
The  Company  has  guaranteed  a  large  amount  of  coupons  of 
the  bonds  of  a  contemplated  railway  from  Boston  to  the 
Hudson  River,  of  which  Company  the  said  Eldridge  is  Pres- 
ident; and  the  Company  has  also  entered  into  obligations  to 
build  a  railroad  from  Akron  to  Toledo,  Ohio.     These  acts 


136  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

have  been  done  without  consulting  the  stockholders,  and 
without  authorit}^  of  law. 

"  Your  Committee  infer  from  the  evidence  that  the  persons 
named  have  very  little,  if  any  interest  in  the  stock  or  secu- 
rities of  said  Compan}^,  and  are  quite  satisfied  that  they  have 
taken  advantage  of  their  position  and  influence  for  purposes 
of  private  gain  and  emolument. 

"  Your  Committee  believe  that  v/ithin  the  principles  estab- 
lished by  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  Schuyler  case,  the  stock 
improperly  created  and  fraudulently  put  into  circulation,  is 
nevertheless  valid  and*  binding  against  the  Company  in  the 
hands  of  bona  fide  holders,  but  as  between  those  who  have 
been  injured  by  the  above  mentioned  wrongful  acts,  and  the 
persons  who  committed  them,  the  former  have  legal  reme- 
dies in  the  courts.  The  Committee  have  considered  what, 
if  any,  legislation  should  be  adopted  in  the  premises.  Al- 
though the  franchises  and  privileges  granted  by  the  State 
have  been  used  for  corrupt  purposes,  yet  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  has  been  done  b}^  unfaithful  agents,  and  not 
by  meritorious  agents. 

"Justice  demands  that  these  agents  should  be  removed, 
but  as  the  courts  have  ample  power  over  them,  the  Commit- 
tee have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  introduce  a  bill  for  that 

P^^P^s^-  "James  F.  Pierce, 

"John  J.  Bradley, 
"A.  C.  Mattoon." 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  the  minority  report: 
After  commending  the  action  of  the  Erie  Directors,  in  re- 
gard to  the  arrangements  with  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and 
Erie,  and  with  the  Michigan  Southern,  and  Northern  Indi- 
ana Railroad  Companies,  the  minority  say  : 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I37 

"  The  Eric  is  a  competing  line  with  the  New  York  Central, 
which  has  direct  connection  with  the  Eastern  and  Western 
States,  and  without  the  connections  sought  to  be  made  would 
soon  become  a  mere  tributary  to  its  groat  central  rival.  It 
would  be  a  self-evident  proposition,  that  almost  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  Erie  Railway  as  a  leading  corporation,  depends 
upon  its  having  a  broad-gauge  connection  with  Chicago. 
That  in  the  leasing  and  conversion  of  the  stock  of  the  Buffalo, 
Bradford  and  Pittsburgh  Railroads,  v/hilc  it  is  possible  that 
injustice  may  have  been  done  the  stockholders  of  that  road 
and  the  Erie,  the  evidence  before  the  Committee  does  not 
establish  it,  and  the  pubhc  are  not  interested  in  it;  that  in 
the  loan  of  Daniel  Drew  to  the  amount  of  '3,480,000,  the  un- 
dersigned see  no  clear  reasons  in  the  contracts,  or  in  the  evi- 
dence bearing  upon  the  same,  for  charging  the  Directors 
with  injustice  or  negligence  ;  but  as  to  the  resolutions  passed 
by  the  Directors,  February  19th,  authorizing  the  issue  of 
f  10,000,000  convertible  bonds,  the  undersigned  say  that  they 
have  the  uncontradicted  evidence  of  Mr.  Diven  and  Mr. 
Davis  that  the  right  of  the  Board  to  pass  such  a  resolution 
was  not  doubted  or  questioned  either  in  the  Executive  Board 
or  Board  of  Directors ;  that  the  act  had  been  previously 
done  repeatedly,  and  referred  to  the  stockholders,  and  re- 
ported to  the  Legislature  without  challenge  or  comment. 
We  have  the  sworn  statement  cf  Davis  and  the  testimony  of 
Diven,  that  the  power  has  been  exercised  by  the  Central, 
Hudson  River  and  other  railroads  in  the  State. 

"As  a  Board  of  Directors,  therefore,  they  are  not  chargeable, 
in  passing  that  resolution,  with  a  willful  violation  of  the  law  ; 
and  the  undersigned  believe  that,  had  it  not  been  that  out- 
side parties  were  interested  in  obtaining  control  of  said  Erie 
Railroad,  no  question  would  ever  have  been  made  as  to  the 


138  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

right  to  pass  such  a  resolution,  or  issue  the  coi  ^-ertible  bonds 
in  accordance  therewith.  As  to  whether  certain  persons,  act- 
ing in  their  individual  capacity,  not  officially  as  Directors, 
have  perpetrated  a  wrong  on  other  persons,  or  whether  they 
have  made  improper  use  of  the  knowledge  they  gained  ex- 
clusively as  such  Directors,  in  affecting  the  price  of  stock  in 
Wall  street,  or  whether  the  stock,  after  being  innocently 
signed  by  the  proper  officers,  was  improperly  used,  or  thrown 
upon  the  market  by  individuals  acting  not  in  their  official 
capacity,  or  whether  they,  as  individuals,  made  an  improper 
use  of  the  money  thus  obtained,  or  whether  the  injunction 
had  been  improperly  violated  by  individuals,  the  undersigned 
do  not  stop  to  consider,  because  these  questions  belong  to 
the  courts.  The  undersigned  think  an  act  should  be  passed 
leo-alizing:  the  ten  millions  of  dollars  of  stock,  and  the  con- 
tracts  with  the  Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie,  and  the  Michigan 
Southern,  and  the  Northern  Indiana  Railroad  Companies, 
prohibiting  a  director  or  officer  of  the  Erie  Company  from 
being  a  director  in  the  Central,  Harlem,  or  Hudson  River 
Railroad  Company,  and  vice  versa;  prohibiting  any  future 
contract  tending  to  consolidation  between  the  Central,  Har- 
lem, and  Hudson  River  Railroads,  and  making  any  sale  or 
contract  to  sell  in  this  State  any  stock  of  any  railroad  on  a 
future  day  null  and  void,  unless  said  stock  shall,  at  time  of 
such  sale  or  contract  to  sell,  be  and  continue  until  the  day 
specified  in  such  contract  or  sale,  in  the  possession  of  the 
party  so  selling  or  contracting  to  sell. 

"  G.  W.  Chapman, 
"  W.  J.  Humphrey." 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I39 


CHAPTER    XX. 

Vanderbilt  stock  was  now  on  the  rise,  anc  Erie's  pros- 
pects dark  indeed.  But  the  ready-witted,  cool,  calculating 
and  indomitable  Jay  Gould  was  not  cast  down.  He  filled 
his  wallet  again,  and  with  a  surgeon's  certificate  of  disability 
in  his  pocket,  (to  secure  him  from  forced  attendance  at 
Court,)  he  opened  another  campaign.  On  the  4th  of  April, 
he  had  appeared  before  Judge  Barnard  and  given  a  bond  in 
850,000  to  appear  on  the  8th,  and  his  trial  for  violating  Judge 
Barnard's  injunction  was  begun.  The  time  of  the  Court  was 
taken  up  with  the  examination  of  John  B.  Haskin  by  James  T. 
Brady,  mainl}^  on  the  subject  of  the  alleged  corruption  of  the 
Judge  by  the  witness.  On  the  follovring  day  the  case  was  again 
up,  but  Gould,  having  secured  his  physician's  certificate,  had 
gone  back  to  Albany.  The  proceedings  were  very  interest- 
ing, but  of  no  importance  to  the  contesting  parties  or  to  the 
public.  Judge  Barnard,  when  asked  what  disposition  should 
be  made  of  the  tcstimon}-  taken  the  day  before,  replied,  with 
much  feeling : 

"The  testimony  of  Judge  Haskin  yesterday,  to  use  the 
language  of  a  gentleman  I  have  just  left,  was  outrageous  and 
scandalous,  and  should  be  stricken  out  at  once  as  a  mark  of 
respect  to  the  Court.  That  part  which  is  not  scandalous  the 
Court  will  receive." 

Mr.  Brady  (excitedly) :  We  want  the  testimony  to  stand  as 
it  does  stand,  and  as  it  will  stand,  and  as  nobody  can  prevent 
it  from  standinir  forever. 


140  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

The  case  was  adjourned  for  a  week. 

On  this  day  there  were  no  fewer  than  four  several  pro- 
ceedings in  the  courts  in  the  Erie  case.  The  first  was  before 
the  Common  Pleas,  in  the  matter  of  the  habeas  corpus  of  Jay 
Gould.  In  the  Supreme  Court,  General  Term,  the  second 
form  in  which  the  case  came  up,  was  the  continuance  of  the 
argument  in  the  General  Term  on  the  appeal  from  the  order 
appointing  a  receiver.  The  third  was  set  for  the  Supreme 
Court  Chambers,  in  three  motions  to  dissolve  injunctions  ; 
and  the  fourth  was  the  proceedings  in  the  attachment,  before 
Judge  Barnard.  The  fights  between  the  railroad  giants  were 
thus  far  productive  of  good  only  to  the  army  of  lawyers  em- 
ployed. 

Well,  as  related  before,  Jay  Gould  was  soon  busy  again  at 
Albany.  How  much  money  he  spent  in  his  efforts  to  con- 
vince the  members  of  the  Legislature  of  their  grievous  error 
in  opposing  the  Erie,  no  one  will  ever  know  ;  but  it  is  beyond 
question  that  ?5oo,oco  would  not  cover  the  outlay.  His 
arguments,  backed  as  they  were,  were  eminently  successful, 
and  although  the  Investigating  Committee  of  the  Assembly 
were  then  trying  the  charges  of  bribery  and  corruption 
brought  by  Mr.  Glenn  against  Mr.  Alexander  Frear  and 
others,  (mention  of  which  is  made  in  a  preceding  chapter,)  a 
number  of  the  members  showed  an  earnest  desire  to  share 
Mr.  Gould's  funds,  and  were  at  once  treated  with  a  liberality 
that  took  even  the  greediest  by  surprise. 

He  had  been  summoned  to  appear  before  Judge  Barrett 
on  the  nth  of  April,  but  when  the  Court  Officer,  James 
Oliver,  came  for  him,  he  refused  to  go  to  New  York,  slammed 
and  locked  the  door  of  his  room,  and  directed  his  counsel, 
Hamilton  Harris,  to  say  to  the  officer  that  he  would  take 
all   the   responsibility.     Judge   Barrett   immediately   issued 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  141 

an  order  setting  forth  these  facts,  and  requiring  H:  milton 
Harris  and  Jay  Gould  to  show  cause  on  the  14th  of  April 
why  they  should  not  be  punished  for  the  misconduct  and 
contempt  alleged  in  James  Oliver's  affidavit.  Mr.  Harris 
appeared  and  purged  himself  of  the  charge,  but  Gould  was 
represented  as  being  too  sick  to  travel,  and  the  case  was 
postponed. 

His  ailment  was  very  peculiar.  It  incapacitated  him  from 
obeying  the  order  of  a  Supreme  Court  Judge  ;  but,  in  its  very 
worst  stage,  seemed  to  quicken  his  wit  and  to  strengthen  in  a 
remarkable  degree  his  executive  faculties,  and  his  power  to  act 
upon  the  feelings  and  consciences  of  men  whom  he  desired  to 
control.  While  suffering  from  one  of  his  severe  attacks  of 
his  disease,  (for  which  there  is  no  name  in  an}-  of  the  medical 
books,  and  which,  having  no  symptoms,  could  not  be  diag- 
nosed,) he  drew  up  another  Erie  Bill,  which,  with  the 
amendments  afterward  made  in  the  Legislature,  reads  as 
follows : 

"Section  i.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  to  use  any  money  realized  from  the  convertible 
bonds  issued  b}^  said  Company  on  the  19th  da}-  of  February, 
1868,  and  under  the  3rd  day  of  March,  1868,  the  said  bonds 
amounting  in  all  to  $10,000,000,  except  for  the  purpose  of 
completing,  furthering,  and  operating  its  railroads,  and  for 
no  other  purpose.  No  clause  in  this  section  contained  shall 
affect  any  right  of  action  of  any  person  against  any  officer  or 
agent  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company;  nor  shall  it  affect  any 
action  or  proceeding  now  pending,  save  as  herein  provided  ; 
nor  shall  anything  herein  contained  be  held  or  c(jnstrued  to 
affect  any  liability,  civil  or  criminal,  of  any  officer  or  agent 
of  the  said  Erie  Railway  Company,  or  of  any  other  person. 
The  use  of  the  moneys  in  this  section  mentioned,  by  any 


142  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

officer  or  agent  of  said  Railway  Company  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  is  herein  mentioned,  shall  be  a  felony,  punishable 
upon  conviction  thereof  by  imprisonment  in  a  State  Prison 
for  not  less  than  two,  nor  more  than  five,  years. 

"  Section  2.  The  future  guaranteeing  by  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  of  any  other  railway  corporation  necessary  and 
proper  to  secure  a  connection  of  said  Erie  Railway  with 
other  railroads,  so  as  to  form  a  continued  line  of  communica- 
tion between  New  York  and  Chicago,  for  fhe  purpose  of 
securing  better  facilities  for  the  traffic  of  said  Erie  Railway 
Company,  and  contracts  hereafter  made  for  that  purpose, 
shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  within  the  powers  of  said 
Company ;  nor  shall  any  stockholder,  director,  officer,  or 
agent  of  the  Hudson  River,  Harlem,  or  New  York  Central 
Railroad  Compan}^  enter  into  any  agreement  with  any 
stockholder,  director,  officer,  or  agent  of  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  to  fix  the  price  for  carrying  freight  or  passengers 
through,  or  to  or  from,  any  point  in  this  State ;  any  stock- 
holder, etc.,  or  other  person  authorized,  aiding  or  abetting 
to  such  an  agreement,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  misdemean- 
or, and,  upon  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  fine  or 
imprisonment,  or  both,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

"  Section  3.  No  stockholder,  etc.,  in  either  the  New  York 
Central,  Hudson  River,  or  Harlem  Railroad  Company  shall 
be  a  director  or  offiter  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company,  and 
no  stockholder,  etc.,  of  the  latter  Company  shall  be  a  director 
of  cither  of  the  three  first-named  Companies. 

"  Section  4.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  to  consolidate  its  stock  or  any  part  thereof,  to 
divide  its  earnings  or  any  part  thereof,  with  the  New  York 
Central,  the  Hudson  River,  or  the  Harlem  Railroad  Com- 
pany ;   and  any  contract  made   between  the  Erie  Railway 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I43 

Company  and  cither  of  the  three  above  Companies  for  such 
consolidation  or  division  shall  be  void. 

"  Section  5.    This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately." 

The  bill  came  up  for  the  final  reading  on  the  i8th,  and  was 
passed  by  a  vote  of  17  to  12.  The  yeas  were  :  Banks,  Beach, 
Chapman,  Folger,  Graham,  Hubbard,  Humphrey,  Mattoon, 
Morgan,  Morris,  Nichols,  Nicks,  O'Donnell,  Parker,  Stan- 
ford, Van  Petten,  WiUiams. 

The  na3S  were :  Bradley,  Cauldwell,  Creamer,  Crowley, 
Edwards,  Kennedy,  Murphy,  Norton,  Palmer,  Pierce,  Thay- 
er, Tweed. 

Mr.  Mattoon,  who  had  fought  the  bill  in  committee,  was 
now  one  of  Erie's  strongest  friends.  His  conversion  was 
due  to  the  cogency  of  Gould's  arguments  at  his  rooms  in  the 
Delavan  House,  where  he  lay  a  martyr  to  an  anomalous  dis- 
ease, from  which  he  did  not  recover  until  the  successful  pas- 
sage of  the  Erie  Bill,  and  its  endorsement  by  Governor 
Fenton  on  the  evening  of  the  21st. 


144  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

The  announcement  of  the  defeat  of  Vanderbilt  in  the 
Legislature  produced  but  little  effect  in  Wall  street,  as  the 
decision  had  long  been  determined  in  the  minds  of  the  ope- 
rators. Central  held  at  about  113,  and  Erie  at  66|,  but  later 
in  the  afternoon  of  April  21st,  Central  jumped  to  119I  and 
Erie  to  70^.  This  movement  was  puzzling  to  the  wisest 
dealers,  but  in  two  or  three  days  the  cause  was  made  appa- 
rent. Uncle  Daniel's  visits  to  Vanderbilt  had  resulted  in 
an  agreement  to  compromise  matters.  The  Commodore 
was  to  discontinue  all  his  suits  against  the  Directors,  and 
allow  the  "  Exiles  of  Erie"  to  return  to  their  accustomed 
haunts.  He  was  to  receive  from  them  for  50,000  shares  of 
Erie  ?2, 500,000  in  cash,  $1,250,000  in  bonds  of  the  Boston, 
Hartford  and  Erie  Railroad  at  80,  and  :•  1,000,000  cash  addi- 
tional for  the  "  option"  of  taking  50,000  shares  more  of  Erie 
at  any  time  within  four  months,  at  the  price  at  which  he  had 
agreed  to  sell.  He  was  also  to  have  the  nomination  of  two 
new  Directors.  Eldridge  was  to  receive  for  $5,000,000  of 
Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie  bonds  at  80,  $4,000,000  of  Erie 
acceptances.  Drew  was  to  hold  fast  to  what  he  had  made 
by  speculating  in  Eric  in  his  peculiar  way,  but  was  to  pay 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Company  8540,000  to  settle  what 
claims  the  Company  might  have  against  him.  Fisk  and 
Gould  were  not  considered  in  this  arrangement ;  but  to  con- 
quer their  hostility  to  the  terms  of  the  compromise  their 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I47 

associates  agreed  that  Drew,  Eldridge  and  some  others 
should  resign  from  the  Board. 

The  "  Fort  Taylor"  garrison  returned  to  New  York  on 
the  22nd,  and  on  the  25th  of  April,  Wall  street  was  in  a 
flutter.  The  leading  Vanderbilt  stocks  began  to  show  in- 
creased signs  of  activity,  and  advanced  in  price.  On  the 
27th  Central  closed  at  127,  and  Erie  at  71^. 

A  few  days  previous  to  this  Judge  Barrett  had  discharged 
the  Jiabcas  corpus  proceedings  against  Gould,  and  as  it  ap- 
peared to  the  Court  that  Gould  had  intended  no  disrespect 
in  disobeying  the  order  served  by  James  Oliver  at  Albany, 
the  contempt  proceedings  were  also  discharged.  But  the 
cases  for  contempt  against  Gould,  Fisk  and  other  Directors, 
for  violating  Judge  Barnard's  injunction  were  not  allowed  to 
drop,  although  the  bail  in  Fisk's  case  was  reduced  from 
850,000  to  811,000. 

After  Drew  and  Eldridge  retired  from  the  Erie  Board  the 
new  management  passed  through  a  severe  ordeal  of  criti- 
cism, but  along  in  September  there  seemed  to  be  a  cliange  in 
public  opinion  in  their  favor.  The  principal  managers  had 
now  left  the  street  and  its  speculations,  with  which  the}-  had 
been  so  long  connected,  and  were  devoting  their  energies  to 
the  recuperation  of  the  Erie  road  by  controlling  all  its  natu- 
ral resources  for  freight  and  passengers,  and  forming  new 
combinations  designed  to  increase  business.  They  leased  the 
Paterson  and  Newark  Railroad,  thus  securing  for  the  Erie 
road  a  large  Western  traffic  hitherto  diverted  from  it,  opened 
new  connections  with  the  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  added 
to  their  fleet  of  Sound  steamers,  and  provided  for  a  growth 
of  their  grain  trade  by  building  warehouses  and  elevators 
wherever  needed.     Erie  stock  was  now  down  to  46. 

But  unfortunately  this  "  change  in  Peter's  life"  was  not  for 
9 


148  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

long.  On  Saturday,  November  14,  Erie  then  at  37,  there 
was  a  sharp  decUne,  and  Erie  fell  to  35,  rising  subsequently 
to  37^.  The  cause  of  the  break  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
40,000  shares  of  it  were  pressed  for  sale,  the  stock  having 
declined  to  224^  at  the  London  Stock  Exchange,  causing  a 
rumored  panic  in  Lombard  street.  Wall  street  was  much 
agitated,  and  on  the  i6th  the  excitement  was  on  the  increase 
Anxious  buyers  crovrded  the  Long-Room  each  jostling  the 
other  for  place  and  power  to  purchase.  Quickly  the  price 
of  Erie  advanced  to  61,  and  almost  as  quickly  fell  to  48^. 
^Millions  of  dollars  changed  owners  on  this  occasion.  It 
transpired  that  for  several  weeks  Fisk,  Gould,  and  the  other 
Directors  of  the  Erie  had  been  secretly  issuing  millions  of 
new  stock  and  selling  it  for  an}^  price  they  could  get.  A 
number  of  other  stock  gamblers  had  been  buying  the  stock 
with  a  view  to  obtain  control  of  the  Company  and  put  their 
own  men  in  as  Directors.  As,  however,  the  new  issues  kept 
coming  on  the  market  the  price  kept  sinking  lower  and  lower. 
The  buying  part}',  in  the  meantime,  man}'  of  them  being 
EngHshmen,  had  sent  their  purchased  stock  to  England  as 
fast  as  they  could ;  but  their  friends  there,  when  they  found 
that  there  was  no  limit  to  the  quantity  manufactured  by  the 
printing  press,  became  alarmed,  and  telegraphed  to  their 
brokers  here  to  sell  at  any  price,  shipping  the  stock  back  at 
the  same  time  by  steamer.  The  brokers  on  this  side,  think- 
ing to  help  themselves,  and  knowing  that  they  would  receive 
plenty  of  the  stock  in  ten  days,  the  period  required  for  the 
steamer's  passage,  undertook  to  sell  ahead,  borrowing  mean- 
while to  make  their  deliveries.  But  suddenly  the  specula- 
tors who  had  been  selling  the  new  stock,  having  plenty  of 
money,  turned  about  and  bought  up  all  the  stock  actually 
here;  and  as  the  steamer  could  not  arrive  within  a  week, 


JAMES   FISK,    JR.  149' 

they  had  compelled  the  foolish  brokers  who  had  made  sales 
at  40  and  thereabouts,  to  buy  in  at  55  and  60  to  meet  their 
contracts. 

On  the  1 8th  another  chapter  in  the  seemingly  interminable 
Erie  Railway  War  was  commenced.  August  Belmont  and 
Ernst  B.  Lucke,  joint  owners  of  4000  shares  of  Erie  common 
stock,  sued  before  Judge  Sutherland  to  set  aside  the  Board 
of  Directors  and  to  appoint  a  receiver.  They  represented  in 
their  complaint  that  unauthorized  stock  to  the  amount  of 
'60,000,000  had  been  issued, — 320,ooo,ooo  of  it  since  the  set- 
tlement of  the  former  suit  in  the  Spring.  An  injunction  was 
applied  for,  and  granted  by  Judge  Sutherland,  restraining 
the  Company  from  any  further  increase  of  the  number  of  its 
shares.  But  Fisk  and  Gould  had  not  been  asleep.  Nearly  a 
week  before  the  suit  was  brought  they  had  sought  the  aid 
of  Judge  Barnard,  who  had  kindly  appointed  Jay  Gould  re- 
ceiver of  the  Company,  thus  anticipating  the  action  of  Mr. 
Belmont. 

Another  suit  was  commenced  on  the  following  day  by 
Charles  Mcintosh,  who  held  200  shares  of  Erie,  and  another 
injunction  was  granted ;  and  in  Judge  Barnard's  court  an 
amendment  was  made  to  the  order  appointing  Jay  Gould  as  re- 
ceiver, which  allowed  him  to  purchase  200,000  shares  recently 
issued  with  the  funds  of  the  Company  (now  about  $15,000,000), 
and  as  only  that  amount  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  market,  a 
panic  was  imminent. 

In  the  Belmont  suit  James  Fisk,  Jr.  was  a  witness.  His 
testimony  was  given  in  the  following  affidavit: 

" On  Sunda}'  morning,   November    15,   1868,   Mr. 

Daniel  Drew  unexpectedly  called  upon  me ;  he  said  he  had 
come  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it,  and  to  throw  himself  upon 
our  mere}' ;  that  he  was  short  of  Erie  stock  30,000  shares.     1 


150  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

told  him  I  knew  that,  and  tliat  was  not  half  of  it,  and  that  he 
Avas  short  in  addition  40,000  '  calls.'  He  complained  bitterly 
of  his  position  ;  he  then  entered  into  an  explanation  as  to 
certain  proceedings  that  he  said  were  being  got  up  by  par- 
tics  who  were  to  attack  us  in  the  courts;  he  said  he  had  been 
iii  the  enemy's  camp,  and  all  that  he  cared  about  was  to  look 
out  for  number  one;  and  if  we  were  wiUing  to  help  him  he 
would  make  a  clean  breast  of  it.  I  told  him  that  his  dispo- 
sition and  his  nature  were  so  vacillating,  that  I  should  not  trust 
him  unless  he  made  a  clean  breast  of  it  to  begin  with.  (Much 
merriment  was  provoked  in  the  court-room  when  this  part 
of  the  affidavit  was  read.)  He  finally,  after  much  hesitation, 
said  he  would  tell  me  that  Work,  Schell,  Lane,  and  Thomp- 
son were  embarked  in  a  scheme  with  him  ;  he  refused  to  tell 
me  in  whose  name  the  proceedings  v/ere  to  be  instituted  ; 
upon  inquiring  closely  of  him  whether  the  case  v/as  taken  up 
on  its  merits,  or  as  a  mere  stock  operation,  he  admitted  that 
I  was  to  relieve  those  w^ho  were  short  of  the  stock,  I  pre- 
sented the  idea  to  him  as  to  what  the  others  would  do,  and 
he  said  he  could  take  the  ringleaders  with  him  if  they  were 
also  provided  for,  and  that  he  would  break  up  the  whole 
scheme.  He  begged  and  entreated  that  I  should  go  and 
bring  Mr.  Gould,  saying  he  knew  that  if  he  could  see  Gould 
he  could  benefit  his  position,  and  would  tell  us  who  were  to 
be  the  plaintiffs  in  the  suit.  I  tried  to  convince  him  that 
this  was  one  of  his  old  tricks,  and  that  he  should  be  the  last 
man  to  whine  at  any  position  he  had  put  himself  in  with 
regard  to  Erie.  Finally  I  consented  to  go  and  get  Gould, 
and  I  did  so.  I  v.'as  not  present  at  the  entire  interview  be- 
tween Gould  and  Drew,  but  such  portion  of  the  conversa- 
tion as  I  heard  was  of  the  same  nature  as  that  held  with  me. 
He  also  used  many  arguments  upon  Mr.  Gould  and  myself 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  I5I 

to  induce  us  to  help  him  with  regard  to  the  stock.  He 
stated  to  us  that  it  was  within  our  power  to  protect  our- 
selves, and  urged  us  to  issue  some  convertible  bonds,  saying 
that  nobody  could  know  anything  about  it.  This  Mr.  Gould 
and  I  refused  to  accede  to. 

"  At  this  lime  he  told  us  that  a  suit  was  to  be  brought 
in  the  name  of  August  Belmont ;  that  he  was  present  at  a 
meeting  they  had  held  last  night,  and  heard  the  papers  read. 
We  told  him  over  and  over  again  that  we  could  not  help 
him.  He  v/ould  not  leave  us,  but  insisted  on  remaining,  and 
Mr.  Gould  and  myself  finally,  unable  to  get  rid  of  him  in  any 
other  Vv-ay,  told  him  that  we  would  meet  him  again  at  10 
o'clock  that  evening.  AVc  then  parted.  Subsequentl}^,  about 
II  o'clock,  I  found  Mr.  Drcv/  waiting  for  us.  At  that  time 
Mr.  Gould  v/as  not  present,  and  I  again  told  him  that  noth- 
ing could  be  done.  He  said,  'Then,  if  you  put  this  stock  up, 
I  am  a  ruined  man.'  He  harped  upon  the  fact  that  he  was 
willing  to  pay  a  large  amount  of  money  for  the  use  of  30,000 
or  40,000  shares  of  stock  for  fifteen  days,  and  offered  me 
as  high  as  three  per  cent.,  which  would  amount  to  nearly 
Si 00,000  for  the  use  of  it  for  that  time.  Finding  that  he 
could  not  induce  me  to  accede  to  his  wishes,  he  took  another 
tack,  saying  that  there  was  a  conspiracy  against  us,  that  they 
would  ruin  us  if  they  could,  and  that  they  would  have  the 
stock  down  at  all  hazards ;  and  that  if  I  would  not  agree  to 
anything  with  him,  he  v/ould  give  his  affidavit  to  the  other 
side,  having  before  stated  that  he  would  not  give  his  affidavit 
if  I  would  come  to  his  rescue.  He  said  :  '  You  know  that 
during  the  whole  of  all  our  other  fights  I  objected  to  ever 
giving  my  affidavit,  but  I  swear  I  will  do  you  all  the  harm 
I  can,  if  you  do  not  help  me  in  this  time  of  m)'  great  need.' 
He  also  said,  '  You  can  loan  mc  the  stock,'  and  added,  '  I  will 


152  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

give  you  three  per  cent,  for  it.  You  have  the  power  to  issue 
more  convertible  bonds,  and  I  will  buy  the  bonds  from  you 
with  the  understanding  that  I  shall  not  pay  for  them  unless 
)'Ou  are  caught.'  I  positively  and  unequivocally  declined 
the  proposition,  as  I  had  done  before. 

"  After  talking  in  this  strain  for  more  than  an  hour,  I  ad- 
hering to  my  decision  that  nothing  could  be  done,  he,  at 
about  I  o'clock,  INIonday  morning,  said,  '  I  will  bid  you  good 
night,'  and  went -away. 

"  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

Drew  kept  his  promise.  He  and  other  sufferers  from  large 
*'  short"  sales  and  "  puts"  on  Erie,  organized  a  combination 
for  the  purpose  of  embarrassing  the  Erie  clique  and  depreci- 
ating the  value  of  the  stock.  To  effect  this  purpose  and 
temporarily  block  transactions  in  Erie  shares,  they  circulated 
a  form  of  agreement  for  signature  among  brokers  and  bank- 
ers, which  pledged  the  signers  against  dealing  in  Erie  stock, 
until  the  Company  should  deposit  its  transfer  books  in  the 
hands  of  some  respectable  banker  or  financial  institution  for 
the  reference  of  stockholders.  At  the  same  time  a  move- 
ment was  initiated  to  induce  both  Boards  of  Brokers  to 
strike  Erie  stock  from  their  lists  until  the  Directors  should 
take  such  action.     Erie  was  now  at  about  41. 

In  course  of  time  the  injunctions  granted  by  Judge  Bar- 
nard in  the  Mcintosh  suit  were  vacated,  and  ex-Judge  Henry 
E.  Davies  made  receiver  in  the  Belmont  suit.  But  things 
had  again  reached  such  a  pass  that  a  Supreme  Court  judge's 
order  was  hardly  worth  the  paper  on  which  it  was  written. 
The  day  after  Judge  Sutherland's  appointment  of  ex-Judge 
Davies  as  receiver.  Judge  Barnard  removed  the  cause  (Bel- 
mont I's.  Erie)  so  far  as  it  affected  James  Fisk,  into  the  United 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 53 

States  Circuit  Court,  staying  all  proceedings  in  the  action 
in  the  State  Courts  against  Fisk.  The  effect  of  this  was  to 
leave  Fisk  in  possession  of  the  road  as  a  Director,  free  from 
the  control  of  Receiver  Davies.  Judge  Barnard  also  granted 
a  stay  of  proceedings  in  the  matter  of  the  receivership  in  the 
Belmont  suit,  pending  an  appeal  by  the  defendants  ;  and  on 
the  same  day  Judge  Sutherland  granted  an  order  to  show 
cause  why  Judge  Barnard's  stay  of  proceedings  should  not 
be  vacated.  Next  morning  the  order  for  receiver  in  the 
Belmont  suit  was  settled,  and  Judge  Sutherland  vacated 
Judge  Barnard's  stay  of  proceedings  and  placed  ex-Judge 
Davies  in  possession  of  the  property  of  the  Erie  Company. 

In  commenting  upon  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  a  morn 
ing  paper  used  this  language  : 

"  The  Erie  war  has  now  become  a  scandal  and  a  crime. 
The  robes  of  the  judiciary  are  rumpled  and  stained  by  being 
dragged  into  this  foul  controversy,  The  hand  of  justice  has 
proved  impotent  in  this  exigency,  and  has  only  entangled 
and  tightened  the  knots  it  has  failed  to  untie.  The  manage- 
ment of  the  Erie  Railway  ought  to  be  radically  changed.  If 
there  be  found  virtue  enough  in  the  new  Legislature,  it 
should  be  invoked  to  annul  its  present  charter,  and  bestow 
upon  it  a  revised  one  ;  and  either  through  its  own  sovereign 
power  select  the  officers  of  the  Company,  or  devise  some 
mode  of  appointment  by  which  it  can  be  delivered  out 
of  the  hands  which  long  since  ruined  its  stock,  and  will 
soon  render  a  large  portion  of  its  bonds  worthless,  and 
ultimately  whelm  the  corporation  in  irretrievable  bank 
ruptcy." 

There  were  now  two  receivers  of  the  Eric  Company's 
property — Jay  Gould,  appointed  by  Judge  Blatchford ;  and 
ex-Judge  Henry  E.  Davies,  appointed  by  Judge  Sutherland. 


154  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

On  the  26th  of  November  a  motion  to  have  Judge  Blatch- 
ford's  order  vacated  was  made  before  another  judge. 

A  few  days  later  the  contest  was  invested  with  new  inter- 
est b}'^  the  proceedings  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court. 
The  affidavits  were  numerous  and  extended,  and  the  day  was 
spent  in  reading  them.  The  main  interest  attached  to  the 
affidavit  of  Jay  Gould,  which  gave  to  the  world  for  the  first 
time  the  secret  of  the  compromise  between  Vanderbilt  and 
the  Erie  exiles.  This  was  on  the  ist  of  December,  on  which 
date  also  the  business  community  were  startled  at  the  news 
that  Gould  and  Fisk  had  absconded  on  the  night  before  with 
all  the  funds  belonging  to  the  Erie  Company.  Fisk  had  left 
the  cit}^  it  is  true,  but  he  had  simply  run  to  Binghamton  to 
obtain  certain  signatures  to  documents  relating  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Company,  and  vv^as  back  on  the  following  morning 
attending  to  business,  and  enjoying  heartily  the  graphic  ac- 
counts of  his  midnight  flight  as  contained  in  the  morning 
papers. 

Now  appeared  a  new  difficulty  to  supplement  the  series 
already  existing  between  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Judge  Sutherland  and  Judge  Cardozo  were  brought  in  con- 
flict by  the  granting  of  an  order  by  the  latter  which  vacated 
the  order  previously  granted  by  the  former,  and  there  seem- 
ed to  be  no  prospect  of  ever  reaching  the  limit  of  the  judicial 
game  of  cross-purposes. 

But  fortunately,  Judge  Balcom  of  the  Supreme  Court,  sit- 
ting in  Broome  County,  now  stepped  in  and  attempted  to 
bring  order  out  of  chaos.  On  the  motion  of  the  Atto^ey- 
General,  he  granted  an  order  whose  first  effect  was  to  set 
aside  all  the  proceedings  had  in  New  York  City  with  the 
conflicting  orders  of  Judges  Barnard  and  Sutherland.  It  nul- 
lified the  appointment  of  a  receiver  which  had  been  made 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 55 

by  Judge  Sutherland.  Substantially,  too,  it  obviated  the 
order  of  Judge  Blatchford  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  appointing  Jay  Gould  receiver  of  a  certain  portion 
of  the  funds  of  the  Company,  and,  pending  the  investigation, 
leaving  the  Directors  in  charge  of  the  business  as  before. 
By  this  order  the  Hon.  Giles  W.  Hotchkiss,  of  Binghamton, 
was  appointed  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  Company, 
to  ascertain  all  the  facts  in  the  operation  of  the  Directors 
and  the  condition  of  the  corporation,  and  to  report  the  result 
of  his  investigation,  as  a  basis  of  a  final  disposition  of  the 
whole  subject. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

After  indulging  in  much  hilarious  merriment  over  the 
mistaken  zeal  of  the  newspaper  reporters,  who  had  sent  him 
away  from  the  city  with  from  six  to  eight  millions  of  funds 
belonging  to  other  people,  Fisk  bethought  him  that  he  could 
create  a  genuine  sensation  by  putting  some  of  the  journals 
to  trouble  by  suing  them  for  libel.  He  began  with  the  Tri- 
bune, laying  his  damages  at  $100,000,  and  then  opened  upon 
the  Springfield  Republican  with  a  demand  for  $50,000 ;  and 
the  property  of  the  latter  was  attached  for  that  amount  on 
the  3d  of  December.  The  canard  had  affected  Erie  stock 
four  per  cent.,  and  had  injured  his  reputation  as  an  honest 
man. 

The  Directors  of  the  Eric  Railwa}'  Company  had  been  on 
the  defensive  for  a  long  time.     They  now  determined  to  at- 


156  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

tack  their  enemies  and  rout  them.  They  began  by  suing  out 
an  injunction  restraining  the  New  York  Central  Raih-oad 
Company  from  issuing  more  stock ;  then,  as  a  preliminary 
to  an  action  which  they  proposed  to  commence  against 
Commodore  Vanderbilt  for  the  recovery  of  the  $5,000,000 
"  extorted"  from  the  Company  in  July,  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  with 
his  counsel,  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  Esq.,  on  Saturday  after- 
noon, December  5th,  called  upon  the  Commodore  at  his 
office  in  Fourth  street,  to  make  formal  tender  of  the  stock 
"forced  "  upon  the  Company  in  settlement  of  the  old  suits, 
and  to  demand  the  return  of  the  money  alleged  to  have  been 
paid  as  a  bonus  to  effect  their  withdrawal.  A  reporter  gave 
the  following  account  of  what  occurred  : 

"About  2  r.  M.,  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the  Commodore's 
office,  and  the  tv>^o  gentlemen  alighted,  bearing  between 
them  an  enormous  black  carpet-bag.  This  bag,  which  bore 
a  remarkable  resemblance  to  those  mysterious  receptacles 
carried  years  ago  in  this  city  by  the  rebel  hotel-burners, 
contained"  50,000  shares  of  Eric  stock,  representing  at  70,  the 
price  for  which  they  were  said  to  have  been  returned  from 
the  Commodore,  three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars,  together 
with  cancelled  checks  amounting  to  a  million  dollars  more. 
Bearing  this  immense  package  between  them,  the  gentlemen 
staggered  up  to  the  office  door  and  rang  the  bell.  An  at- 
tendant promptly  admitted  them,  when  they  found  the  Com- 
modore seated  in  his  easy  chair  near  his  private  telegraph 
instrument,  quietly  puffing  a  prime  Partaga  and  reading  the 
dispatches  from  the  Stock  Exchange.  He  had  just  received 
the  announcement,  "Erie,  thirty-six,"  when  the  burly  Mr. 
Fisk,  approaching  him,  remarked: 

"  How  are  you.  Commodore  ?  I've  come  to  see  you  on 
very  important  business — unusually  important  business." 


JxVMES   FISK,   JR.  157 

Commodore. — Glad  to  sec  you,  Jim.  How  de  do  ,  let's 
hear  your  business. 

Fisk. — Well,  Commodore,  I've  come  on  behalf  of  the  stock- 
holders of  the  Erie  Railway  Compan}-  to  collect  from  you 
the  four  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars  which  they  were  forced 
to  pay  over  to  you  last  July  to  have  these  suits  discontinued. 
[Opening  the  bag.]  Here  are  50,000  shares  of  Erie,  which 
you  made  us  take  off  your  hands  at  70,  which,  I  calculate,  is 
J3, 500,000.  We  want  you  to  take  this  stock,  and  draw  your 
check  immediately,  with  interest  from  July  nth;  and  fur- 
thermore, we  want  another  million  from  you,  which  was 
paid  for  no  consideration  ;  and  please  to  make  out  your 
check  for  that  amount  also,  with  interest  from  the  same  date. 

Commodore  (shghtly  taken  aback). — I  haven't  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  this  business,  and  don't  know  an3'thing 
about  it. 

Fisk. — O,  now,  that's  all  gammon.  Commodore.  We  mean 
business,  you  know.  We're  after  that  money,  and  mean  to 
have  it.  We  don't  want  to  be  hard  with  you,  and  if  you 
settle  up  without  further  trouble,  wh}-,  we  may  let  up  on  the 
interest.  But,  if  you  don't  draw  your  check  rightaway,  suits 
^vill  be  commenced  for  the  recovery  of  the  funds  thus  wrong- 
fully obtained,  and  we  shall  attach  your  property  for  the 
amount. 

Commodore  (angril}-). —  I  ain't  sold  no  stock  to  the  Erie 
Company,  nor  received  any  million  bonus,  so  I  sha'n't  pay 
the  money. 

Fisk. — Well,  Commodore,  we  have  come  to  make  you  a 
formal  tender  of  the  securities.  Here  is  the  stock  which  you 
forced  on  the  Company,  and  the  cancelled  checks  for  the 
bonus.  If  you  won't  pay  up,  why,  wt  shall  have  to  sue  you. 
Good-clay. 


158  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Commodore  (excitedly). — Good  da}-,  Jim  ;  you  can  sue  and 
be . 


[The  remainder  of  the  sentence  was  lost  in  the  noise  occa- 
sioned by  the  sudden  departure  of  Mr.  Fisk  and  his  counsel, 
with  the  mysterious  black  bag  between  them.] 

Fisk's  threat  was  executed  in  due  time,  and  suit  was  com- 
menced against  Vanderbilt  on  the  nth  of  December. 

His  threat  ao-ainst  the  Tribune  was  carried  no  further  than 

O 

the  threshold  of  a  suit  for  libel ;  but  toward  the  Springfield 
Republiean  he  showed  a  determination  to  wreak  his  bitterest 
revenge.  On  the  night  of  the  22nd  of  December,  Samuel 
Bowles,  well-known  as  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Re- 
publican, Avas  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  Avith  his  invalid 
wife.  At  about  nine  o'clock,  while  conversing  with  Murat 
Halstead,  of  the  Cincimiati  Covimercial,  and  William  Bond, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  New  Almaden  Quicksilver  Company, 
he  was  approached  by  two  sheriff's  officers,  who,  after  exhib- 
iting a  warrant  for  his  arrest,  took  him  in  custody  and  con- 
veyed him  in  a  carriage  to  Ludlow  Street  Jail.  The  officers 
were  evidently  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  their  captive  away, 
and  his  friends  had  no  opportunity  to  exchange  a  word  with 
him.  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  the  Sun,  hearing  of  the  arrest, 
hurried  to  the  Fifth  Avenue,  and,  accompanied  by  Messrs. 
Bond  and  Halstead,  at  once  sallied  out  to  obtain  legal  advice, 
but  finding  that  it  was  too  late  to  secure  the  release  of  their 
friend  by  giving  bail,  the  three  drove  to  the  jail  to  see  that 
every  possible  arrangement  should  be  made  for  his  comfort. 
Here  they  found  several  indignant  members  of  the  Union 
League  Club,  all  of  whom  had  been  refused  permission  to  see 
Mr.  Bowles,  and  to  whom  the  unwelcome  information  had 
been  given  that  the  prisoner  would  be  obliged  to  remain  in 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 59 

durance  all  nic^ht.  The  apartment  prepared  for  him  was  a 
small  room  on  the  ground  floor,  and  the  accommodations 
about  as  good  as  the  building  afforded.  For  the  comforts 
and  luxuries  supplied  him  that  night,  Mr.  Bowles  was  re- 
quired to  pay  '^19.50. 

During  the  evening  of  Mr.  Bowles'  incarceration,  several 
friends  of  his  learned  that  at  a  reception  given  to  A.  Oakey 
Hall,  Mayor  elect,  at  the  residence  of  Augustus  L,  Brown, 
Sheriff  O'Brien  was  present.  Murat  Halstcad  and  Colonel 
Bliss  hurried  to  Mr.  Brown's,  and  there  found  the  Sheriff, 
Judge  McCunn,  the  committing  magistrate,  and  James  Fisk, 
Jr.,  the  prosecutor.  "Approaching  the  Sheriff,"  wrote  a  care- 
ful reporter,  "the}^  proposed  then  and  there  to  give  bail  for 
the  prisoner.  To  this  the  Sheriff  made  some  objecti<m  about 
office  hours,  which  was,  however,  quickly  o'/ercome,  when 
he  requested  the  gentlemen  to  wait  a  few  minutes,  until  he 
consulted  his  legal  adviser.  After  waiting  about  an  hour, 
they  ascertained  that  the  Sheriff  had  gone  away,  leaving  a 
verbal  message  for  them  to  the  effect  tiiat  he  could  do  nothing 
until  office  hours  the  next  day,  thus  strengthening  the  im- 
pression that  already  prevailed,  that  the  purpose  was  to  keep 
the  respondent  in  confinement  for  the  night  at  all  hazards." 

Mr.  Bowles'  arrest  and  incarceration  in  Ludlow  Street  Jail 
excited  an  intense  degree  of  feeling  throughout  the  citv,  par- 
ticularly in  literary  circles.  The  manner  of  the  arrest  and 
the  malicious  motives  that  prompted  it,  were  commented 
upon  freely  by  the  reading  and  thinking  community,  and 
nowhere  did  they  seem  to  inspire  very  favorable  remark 
toward  James  Fisk,  the  prosecutor. 

The  following  editorial,  clipped  from  the  columns  of  one 
of  the  many  journals  that  commented  very  freely  upon  the 
affair,  embodies  the  sentiment  that  universally  prevailed.     It 


l6o  LIFE  AND   TBIES   OF 

was  printed  on  the  morning  after  Mr.  Bowles  was  released, 
on  giving  ?5o,ooo  bail : 

"  Mr.  Bowles,  of  the  Springfield  Republican,  whose  arrest 
and  incai"ceration  in  Ludlow  Street  Jail,  at  the  instance  of 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  we  reported  yesterday,  was  released  early  in 
the  day.  Bail  in  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  was 
given  for  him  by  Mr.  Cj^rus  W.  Field  and  Mr.  A.  A.  Selover. 
The  annoyance  of  confinement  for  a  single  night  In  jail,  Mr. 
Bowles  endured  with  good  humor,  as  a  novel  enterprise  in 
life;  so  that  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Fisk,  to  cause  him  extreme 
annoyance  and  inconvenience,  was  not  accomplished.  The 
only  very  unpleasant  circumstance  in  the  case  was  that  Mrs. 
Bowles,  who  is  an  invalid,  was  in  town  at  the  time,  and  could 
not  but  suffer  considerably  from  the  unexpected  and  rather 
alarming  absence  of  her  husband.  Possibly  the  gratification 
which  Mr.  Fisk  may  derive  from  having  inflicted  intense 
pain  upon  a  most  estimable  lady,  whose  nerves  had  been 
brought  by  sickness  to  a  condition  of  peculiar  sensitiveness, 
may  make  up  for  the  failure  to  work  the  desired  degree  of 
torture  upon  her  husband. 

"  There  is  something  truly  contemptible  in  the  feehng  that 
dictated  the  manner  of  this  arrest.  That  Mr.  Fisk  should  be 
aggrieved  by  Mr.  Bowles' comments  upon  himself  in  connec- 
tion with  the  recent  transactions  of  fne  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany, is  not  surprising.  If  he  desired  to  procure  redress  by 
■neans  of  a  suit  for  damages,  it  was  perfectly  proper  to  do  so 
As  a  libel  suit  differs  from  an  ordinary  prosecution  in  alleging 
an  injury  to  character,  the  law  allows  the  arrest  of  the  defen- 
dant, and  his  confinement  until  he  has  given  security  for  his 
appearance  at  the  trial.  It  was  then  perfectly  in  order  for 
Mr.  Fisk  to  have  Mr.  Bowles  arrested,  and  to  compel  him  to 
furnish  bail ;  and  had  nothing  more  been  done  in  this  case,  it 


JAMES   riSK,   JR.  l6l 

would  have  excited  no  unusual  attention.  But  the  sort  of 
arrangement  into  which  Mr.  Fisk  seems  to  have  entered  with 
the  Sheriff's  officers,  to  seize  his  enem}'  at  a  disadvantage, 
and  to  immure  him  so  that  for  twelve  hours  at  least  his 
rescue  would  be  impossible,  was  a  base  and  petty  proceeding, 
which  a  gentleman  might  possibly  be  led  into  under  the  in- 
fluence of  extreme  anger,  but  which  he  would  afterward  be 
heartily  ashamed  of,  and  endeavor  to  apologize  for  by  every 
means  in  his  power." 

The  following  is  Fisk's  affidavit,  on  which  the  warrant  for 
Mr.  Bowles  was  issued  by  Judge  McCunn,  at  a  night  session 
of  his  court,  as  a  special  favor  to  Fisk: 

"James  Fisk,  Jr.,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  sa)'s  that 
he  is  the  jilaintiiT  in  tlic  above  entitled  action ;  that  on  the 
28th  day  of  November,  1868,  the  defendant,  Samuel  Bowles, 
being  the  principal  editor,  or  editor-in-chief,  of  certain  news- 
papers published  by  the  said  Samuel  Bowles  &  Co.,  in  the 
City  of  Springfield  and  State  of  Massachusetts,  known  and 
described  as  '  The  Daily  Springfield  Republican '  and  '  The 
Semi-Weekly  Springfield  Republican^  did  compose  and  pub- 
lish of  and  concerning  this  deponent,  plaintiff  aforesaid,  the 
following  false,  malicious,  scandalous  and  defamator}^  matter, 
to  wit:  'But  Fisk  has  probably  destroyed  the  credit  of  the 
railroad,  (meaning  the  Erie  Railway  Company,)  while  piling 
up  a  fortune  for  himself.  The  multiplication  of  its  stock  has 
been  fearful.  From  thirty  millions  of  nominal  capital  a  year 
ago,  it  has  been  raised  to  sixty  or  seventy  millions,  and  what 
there  is  to  show  for  the  difference  beyond  some  worthless 
securities  of  the  Hartford  &  Erie  Railroad  and  a  million  or 
two  of  real  estate,  it  is  now  impossible  to  say.  The  issue  of 
new  shares  seems  to  have  been  wanton,  and  to  no  purpose  in 
great  part  but  to  gamble  in  Wall  street  with.     Nothing  so 


1 62  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

audacious,  nothing  more  gigantic  in  the  way  of  swindhng  has 
ever  been  perpetrated  in  this  country,  and  yet  it  may  be  that 
INIr.  Fisk  and  his  associates  have  done  nothing  that  they  can- 
not legally  justify,  at  least  in  New  York  courts,  several  of 
v/hich  they  (meaning  deponent,  Fisk,  and  others)  seem  wholly 
to  own.  Fisk's  operations  are  said  to  be  under  the  legal 
guidance  of  both  David  Dudley  Field  and  Charles  O'Conor, 
and  now  both  Judge  Barnard  of  the  State  and  Judge  Blatch- 
ford  of  the  United  States  Court,  back  up  and  help  on  his 

proceedings Many  even  of  his  friends  predict  for 

him  the  state  prison  or  the  lunatic  asylum.' 

"  Deponent  further  says  that  the  same  matter  as  last  above 
recited  as  having  been  published  in  the  said  '  Daily  and  Semi- 
Weekly  Springfield  Republican,'  was  repubhshed  in  *  The 
Weekly  Springfield  Republican^  also  published  by  the  above 
named  defendants,  on  the  5th  day  of  December,  A. D.  1868. 
Deponent  further  says  that  an  action  was  commenced  in  this 
court  by  this  deponent  on  the  21st  day  of  December,  1868, 
for  libel  for  the  above  recited  false,  malicious,  scandalous  and 
defamatory  matter,  as  above  stated,  published  by  the  defen- 
dants against  the  above  named  plaintiff,  claiming  damages  in 
the  sum  of  ^50,000. 

"  Deponent  further  says  that  the  said  newspapers,  published 
by  the  defendants,  have  a  wide  and  extensive  circulation  in 
the  City  and  County  of  New  York  and  elsewhere,  and  that 
by  reason  of  said  pubhcation  this  deponent  has  been  damaged 
and  injured  in  his  character  and  reputation,  and  his  useful- 
ness and  efficiency  as  a  director  and  manager  of  the  vast 
interests  intrusted  to  his  care  as  Managing  Director  of  the 
Erie  Railway  Company  seriously  and  wantonly  injured  and 
damaged — this  as  well  for  the  stockholders  in  said  Company 
at  large  as  for  this  deponent.  James  Fisk,  Jr." 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  165 

Tt  is  more  than  probable  that  the  following  paragrajjh  from 
the  editorial  in  the  Springfield  Republican  had  as  much  to  do 
in  exasperating  Fisk  as  the  extracts  he  saw  fit  to  use  in  his 
affidavit.  He  had  been  as  roughly  handled  by  the  Tribune  ^ 
and  other  papers,  which  did  not  hesitate  to  class  him  among 
swindlers  and  thieves ;  but  none  had  gone  so  far  as  to  cast 
ridicule  upon  his  person,  any  more  than  to  question  his  pos- 
session of  more  than  ordinary  mental  ability  : 

"  The  appellation  of  '  f.it,  fair  and  forty,'  so  often  applied  to 
well  preserved  women,  belongs  peculiarly  to  him.  Me  is 
almost  as  broad  as  he  is  high,  and  so  round  that  he  rolls 
rather  than  walks.  But  his  nervous  energy  is  stimulated 
rather  than  deadened  by  his  fat,  which  gives,  indeed,  a 
momentum  to  iiis  mental  movement  and  his  personal  in- 
fluence." 

A  day  or  two  after  Mr.  Bowles'  release,  Fisk,  while  in 
Boston,  rushed  into  print  with  the  following: 

"To  the  Editor  of  the  Boston  Evening  Gazette: — On  the 
28th  of  November  last,  'Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,'  published  an  editorial,  headed  '  The  New  Hero  of 
Wall  Street.'  It  was  devoted  to  a  bitter,  abusive,  untruthful 
and  unprovoked  attack  on  my  origin,  vocation,  habits,  per 
sonal  appearance  and  family  afflictions.  For  example,  with 
a  reckless  disregard  of  truth  and  railroad  possibilities, 
'  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,'  said :  '  But 
Fisk  has  probably  destroyed  the  credit  of  the  railroad,  while 
piling  up  a  fortune  for  himself.  The  multiplication  of  its 
stock  has  been  fearful.  From  thirty  millions  of  nominal 
capital  a  year  ago  it  has  been  raised  to  sixty  or  seventy  mil- 
lions, and  what  there  is  to  show  for  the  difference  bevond 
some  worthless  securities  of  the  Hartford  &  Erie  Railroad 
and  a  million  or  two  of  real  estate,  it  is  now  impossible  to 
10 


l65  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

say.'  Were  it  not  inconsistent  with  my  well-known  good 
nature  and  forgiving  disposition,  I  should  unhesitatingly 
pronounce  '  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,'  an 
abandoned  falsifier  and  a  fool  on  that  single  statement.  Fur- 
ther on,  the  Springfield  Republican  has  asserted  its  capacity 
for  wholesale  slander  by  the  following  astounding  calumny 
on  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  New  York :  '  Nothing  so  audacious, 
nothing  more  gigantic  in  the  way  of  swindling,  has  ever  been 
perpetrated  in  this  country,  and  yet  it  may  be  that  Mr.  Fisk 
and  his  associates  have  done  nothing  that  they  cannot  legally 
justify,  at  least  in  the  New  York  courts,  several  of  which 
they  seem  wholly  to  own.  Fisk's  operations  are  said  to  be 
under  the  legal  guidance  of  both  David  Dudley  Field  and 
Charles  O' Conor,  and  now  both  Judge  Barnard  of  the  State 
and  Judge  Blatchford  of  the  United  States  Court  back  up 
and  help  on  his  proceedings.' 

"  The  alleged  indifference  of  the  New  York  city  authorities 
to  the  incarceration  of  '  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,'  was  not,  you  will  see,  entirely  unjustifiable.  Culpable 
as  I  am  in  selling  '  silks,  poplins  and  velvets  by  the  yard,'  the 
generous  nature  of  '  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,'  is  not  finally  and  utterly  turned  against  me  until  he 
has  ascertained  that  I  am  guilty  of  having  a  father  who  is 
unhappily  an  inmate  of  a  lunatic  asylum.  This  sours  all  the 
milk  of  human  kindness  in  the  breast  of  the  Springfield  jour- 
nalist, and  he  prophetically  consigns  me  to  a  '  mad-house  or 
state  prison.'  Under  the  circumstances,  Messrs.  Editors, 
don't  you  think  I  had  cause  to  feel  vexed  with  '  Samuel 
Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Mass.'  ?  In  order  to  protect  my 
rights,  I  appealed  to  the  law,  which  is  the  highest  expression 
of  human  wisdom  for  the  good  government  of  mankind.  If 
any  error  has  been  committed,  those  who  made  the  law  com- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  167 

mitted  it.  I  regret  that  the  wife  of  '  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq., 
of  Springfield,  Mass.,'  was  disturbed  or  even  annoyed  by  her 
husband's  temporary  absence.  As  for  the  sympathy  of  the 
sycophantic  horde  of  office-seekers  and  small-beer  editors 
who  clamored  around  the  jail  gates  for  their  comrade's  re- 
lease, their  abuse  I  expected  and  am  indifferent  to.  Mr. 
Bowles  proposed  the  game  himself,  and  I  bowled  him  over 
the  first  innings.  I  think  it  will  be  generally  conceded  that 
I  have  as  much  right  to  defend  my  personal  character  as  any 
newspaper  has  to  attack  it.  At  all  events,  I  shall  do  so  with 
the  most  unflinching  determination,  until  it  is  proven  to  the 
contrary.  Mr.  Bowles  need  not  fear  but  that  I  will  bring 
him  to  trial  before  a  judicial  tribunal,  and  then  'let  justice  be 
done  though  the  heavens  fall  ;'  and  these  are  a  few  of  the 
reasons,  Messrs.  Editors,  why  I  arrested  and  locked  up 
*  Samuel  Bowles,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Mass.' 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"James  Fisk,  Jr. 
"  At  Home,  Boston,  Mass., 

"  Christmas-Day r 


1 68  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Fisk's  strong  feeling-  against  Bowles  had  an  earlier  origin 
than  in  the  scurrilous  paragraph  in  the  Republican  concerning 
his  personal  appearance,  or  in  those  which  referred  to  his 
tricker}'^  and  dishonesty  as  an  Erie  Director.  At  the  time 
Fisk  was  sustaining  the  Goulding  Patent,  to  which  reference 
has  been  already  made,  and  maintaining  in  the  courts  of  the 
country,  at  an  enormous  expense,  his  right  to  hold  and  use 
it,  one  of  his  strongest  opponents  was  Samuel  Bowles,  then 
heavily  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen 
cloth  by  means  of  machinery  to  which  the  Goulding  instru- 
ment was  applicable.  Bowles  opposed  the  payment  of  the 
royalty  to  Fisk,  and  hence  the  birth  of  a  bitterness  on  the 
part  of  the  "  Vermont  peddler,"  which  needed  only  the 
stimulant  of  a  personal  insult  to  increase  to  deadly  hatred. 

Mr.  Bowles'  own  story  of  his  adventure  in  New  York  was 
told  in  the  Springfield  Republican  two  or  three  days  after 
Christmas,  and  as  his  account  of  life  in  Ludlow  Street  Jail  is 
extremely  interesting  and  spicy  it  is  here  reproduced  : 

"  If  I  owned  a  patent  medicine,  or  were  a  candidate  for 
office,  or  even  an  itinerant  peddler  of  sleazy  silks  and  scented 
soaps,  money  could  not  buy  of  me  the  experience  in  Ludlow 
Street  Jail,  which  those  representatives  of  business  and  poli- 
tical sensations  and  swindlings,  Fisk  and  Butler,"  and  their 

*  George  Butler,  now  (1872)  Consul-General  to  Egypt,  a  nephew  of  General 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  a  son  of  Colonel  Butler,  who  accompanied  the  general 
to  New  Orleans.  Mr.  Bowles  had  been  conspicuous  in  the  opposition  to  Gen- 
eral Butler  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  nephew  took  vengeance  upon  him  by 
pointing  him  out  to  the  officers  on  the  night  of  the  arrest. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  169 

allied  representatives  of  what  they  call  law  and  justice  in 
New  York — Judge  McCunn,  Counsellor  Vanderpoel,  and 
Sheriff  Jimmy  O'Brien — persuaded  me  into  last  week.  Being- 
a  simple  country  printer  and  editor,  and  the  accidental 
author  of  one  book,  the  pecuniary  profit  of  the  transaction  is 
not  so  clear;  though  it  is  a  fact  that  a  slirewd  Yankee  pub 
lisher  offered  the  next  day  'to  go  a  thousand  better'  for  a 
new  book — which  suggested  $1,000 — S19.50  for  lodging  and 
breakfast='^98o.50  possible  net  gain.  But  not  foreseeing 
then  how  famous  my  enemies  were  making  me,  and  how 
infamous  themselves,  by  this  little  bon-bon  joke  for  their 
evening's  entertainment  at  Mr.  Augustus  L.  Brown's,  Fifth 
Avenue,  I  thought  first  and  chiefly  of  the  fine  philosophy  of 
the  Frenchman,  that  experience  is  all  that  life  can  give  us, 
and  that  whosoever  offers  a  fresh  bit  of  that  is  a  real  if  uncon- 
scious philanthropist.  Here  truly  was  something  rare  and 
original  in  that  line,  and  after  the  first  surprise  was  over,  I 
looked  about  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

"  All  the  outward  events  of  the  taking-off,  the  revelations 
of  the  '  ring'  at  Mr.  Brown's,  the  scenes  around  the  jail, 
night  and  morning,  have  been  sufficiently  described.  The 
officials  exhibited  only  just  as  much  severity  as  was  neces- 
sary to  represent  the  meanness  and  brutality  which  they 
were  charged  to  execute.  The  purpose  was  to  give  me  all 
the  letter  and  none  of  the  liberty  of  the  law,  all  its  cruelty, 
none  of  its  courtesy  ;  to  prevent  my  friends  knowing  for 
what  I  was  arrested,  or  where  I  had  been  taken  ;  to  insure 
beyond  peradventure  my  confinement  for  the  night ;  and  all 
the  persons  engaged  in  the  transaction,  from  lawyers  and 
judges,  down  to  the  jail  scuUions,  certainly  earned  extra  pay 
for  the  fidelity  with  which  they  stuck  to  this  purpose  of  their 
employers.     Whatever  of  failure  they  met  with  was  none  of 


I70  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

their  fault.  That  which  other  persons  had  through  the  night 
was  strictly  denied,  or  cunningly  prevented  me ;  and  soon 
discovering  this,  I  philosophically  accepted  the  goods  the 
gods  had  provided.  One  of  these  was  the  finalest  edition  of 
the  Evening  Express.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  mastered 
the  mysteries  of  its  '  make-up.'  I  claim  almost  the  right  of 
original  discovery,  and  henceforth  can  begin  at  the  beginning 
and  go  through  its  dancing  and  discordant  columns  without 
missing  an  item  of  news. 

"After  the  lo  o'clock  bombardment  by  my  friends,  the 
jailer,  who  is  really  a  good-natured  little  Irishman,  began  to 
smile  through  the  deep  small-pox  pockets  of  his  face.  Mr. 
Blunt's  denunciation  of  him  as  '  a  vagabond,'  and  Mr.  Hal- 
stead's  query  as  to  what  his  old  office  might  be  worth  in 
greenbacks,  both  seemed  to  tickle  his  vanity,  and  remarking 
that  I  seemed  to  have  some  pretty  earnest  and  influential 
friends,  he  proceeded  to  make  me  as  comfortable  as  the 
prison-house  would  permit,  with  a  strict  eye,  however,  to 
both  the  law  and  the  profits. 

"  I  could  have  a  bed  in  the  room,  half  room,  half  cell,  of 
another  gentleman,  Mr.  John  Livingston,  an  old  New  York 
lawyer,  and  editor  of  the  Lmv  Magazine,  who  had  been 
clapped  in  only  an  hour  or  two  before  I  was,  and  on  a  simi- 
lar process  to  mine — his  offence  being  the  writing  of  a  letter 
about  a  person  who  he  said  was  a  rascal — for  which,  with 
board,  the  price  was  Si 5  a  week,  half  a  week  to  be  paid  any 
way.  But,  saying  I  would  have  the  best  he  had  under  the 
rules  of  the  prison,  he  showed  me  a  room  on  the  ground 
floor,  leading  out  of  the  general  dining-room,  now  piled  up 
with  furniture,  which  he  partially  cleared  away,  and  placed  it 
at  my  disposal  at  the  rate  of  S35  a  week,  '  half  down.'  There 
was  a  general  shabbiness,  or   rather  untidiness,  about  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  17I 

whole  premises,  and  no  bed-room  furniture  in  the  room  but 
two  small  hard  beds,  a  carpet,  and  chairs  in  abundance ;  but 
my  door  was  not  locked,  and  I  had  in  fact  the  run  of  the 
whole  floor,  of  which,  indeed,  I  seemed  to  be  the  sole  occu- 
pant, office,  dining-room,  kitchen,  and  closets,  which  were 
kept  brilliantly  lighted  for  the  whole  night. 

"  But  I  had  not  yet  mastered  the  fascinating  problem  of  ^ 
the  five  o'clock  edition  of  the  Express.  And  from  the 
moment  of  entrance  I  had  seen  that  here  was  what  I  had  not 
supposed  existed  in  America,  a  miniature  Marshalsea,  and 
Dickens'  charming  story  of  '  Little  Dorrit'  came  up  before 
me  in  all  its  details.  What  would  n't  I  have  given  for  Mr. 
Houghton's  large-print  hou^hold  edition  of  it  for  the  night's 
reading  and  comparison!  So  I  w^ent  back  to  the  office  where 
more  or  less  of  my  fellow-prisoners  were  pla3-ing  cards,  read- 
ing, and  talking,  while  in  the  hall  above  others  were  enjoying 
a  game  of  bilHards. 

"  Ludlow  Street  Jail  is  devoted  to  prisoners  under  civil 
suits — for  libels,  for  slanders,  for  that  class  of  debts  not  yet 
expunged  from  jail  offences,  for  breaches  of  trust,  and  all 
that  description  of  constructive  offences  or  suspicion  that, 
under  the  Old  common  law,  border  on  crime,  yet  do  not 
touch  it ;  also  for  criminals  under  Federal  laws,  counterfeit- 
ers, smugglers,  post-office  robbers,  murderers  on  the  high 
seas,  etc.  These  latter  are  confined  in  cells  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  building,  and  have  no  consort  with  the  former,  who 
have  the  privilege  (?)  of  paying  for  their  board  and  lodging 
and  a  wide  range  of  liberties  together  within  the  house. 
But  Dickens  describes  it  better  :  *  Itself  a  close  and  confined 
prison  of  debtors,  it  combined  within  itself  a  much  closer 
and  confined  jail  for 'smugglers.  Offenders  against  the  rev- 
enue laws,  and  defaulters  against  the  excise  or  customs,  who 


172  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

had  incurred  fines  they  were  unable  to  pay,  were  supposed  ■ 
to  be  incarcerated  behind  an  iron-plated  door  closing  up  a 
second  prison,  consisting  of  a  strong  cell  or  two,  and  a  blind 
alley  some  yard  and  a  half  wide  which  formed  the  myste- 
rious termination  of  the  very  limited  skittle-ground  in  which 
the  Marshalsea  debtors  bowled  down  their  troubles.' 

"  The  old  residents — prisoners  for  days,  weeks,  and  months, 
as  most  of  them  were,  reconciled,  contented,  jolly — treated 
me  with  a  tender  inattention  which  was  most  exquisite-. 
They  neither  stared  at  nor  asked  questions  of  me,  but  kept 
on  with  their  play,  talk,  or  reading.  Only  the  newest  comer 
explained  his  case  and  asked  mine.  The  others  soon  seemed 
to  know  all  about  my  affairs — ^how,  I  can  hardly  tell ;  but, 
certainly,  I  never  met  more  delicate  politeness  than  the  in- 
direct and  secret  manner  in  which  they  satisfied  their  curi- 
osity. I  thought  with  a  shudder  how  different  it  would 
have  been  if  this  Marshalsea  recognized  the  rights  of  women 
to  imprisonment. 

"  Late  as  it  was,  few  seemed  to  have  gone  to  bed,  and 
callers  were  still  admitted — except  to  me.  Our  '  Father  of 
the  Marshalsea'  soon  came  down  stairs — a  tall,  straight,  gen- 
tlemanly old  man  dressed  in  black,  with  rich  white  hair  and 
beard,  and  a  benevolent,  yet  wise  face  ;  his  would  have  been 
a  marked  appearance  and  manner  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, or  in  the  Supreme  Court.  All  paid  tribute  to  him  as  he 
moved  about.  Most  of  the  others  were  younger  men,  and 
exhibited  no  sense  of  their  condition,  except  in  a  certain 
manner  of  unrest,  which  led  them  from  billiards  to  cards, 
from  these  to  papers,  and  again  back  with  unnatural  fre- 
quency. 

"  There  was  suggestion  of  a  game  to  see  who  should  pay 
for  the  oysters,  or  a  bottle  of  ale  or  cider ;  the  jailer's  assist- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1/3 

ants,  over-grown,  g-rccn  boys,  were  asked  to  go  out  for  this 
or  that  luxury  ;  there  was  a  good  deal  of  chaffing  about  one 
another's  impccuniosity  ;  and  sly,  but  successful  appeals,  at 
the  last,  for  a  '  night-cap'  out  of  the  jailer's  private  stores. 

"  Not  until  midnight  was  there  any  suggestion  of  disci- 
pline ;  then  there  was  a  rap  and  a  call  of  '  bed-time  !'  from 
the  second  story ;  and  I  was  soon  left  alone  in  the  office. 
Wandering  about  the  floor,  I  found  a  generous  bathing-room, 
a  large  and  well-appointed  kitchen,  a  long  and  plainly  fur- 
nished dining-room,  apparently  always  read}'  for  a  meal,  and 
open  alike  to  the  officers  and  the  civil  prisoners.  The  build- 
ing was  overheated  with  steam,  and  I  was  moved  to  beg, 
with  success,  for  the  w'indow  in  my  room  to  be  opened  for 
fresh  air ;  and  affairs  were  apparently  more  disorderly  and 
untidy  than  usual,  because  the  principal  public  room,  a  sort 
of  sitting-room  and  library  and  reception-room  for  the  civil 
suit  inmates,  was  in  process  of  repainting  and  frescoing,  and 
could  not  be  used. 

"The  bed  did  not  invite  sleep ;  I  could  not  keep  down  the' 
the  sense  of  the  humorousncss  of  the  situation;  it  disputed 
place  with  anxiety  for  my  invalid  wife,  for  whose  care  I  had 
exposed  myself  to  this  petty  persecution  of  m}'-  enemies,  and 
with  sympathy  for  the  children  to  whom  the  joll}-  side  of  the 
experience  would  not  suggest  itself;  and  along  with  these, 
mixing  with  half  sleep,  came  those  nervous  speculations  that 
Dickens  describes  as  possessing  Arthur  Clenman  when  he 
slept  in  the  JMarshalsea.  The  steam-pipes  fizzed  and  fumed — 
suppose  they  should  burst.  Would  it  be  easy  to  escape  if 
one  wanted  to?  Would  this  genteel  scroll  of  iron  work  that 
guarded  the  lower  w'indows  in  respect  to  the  supposed  su- 
perior social  beings  to  whom  the  rooms  were  devoted,  give 
way  more  easily  than  the  plain  cross-bars  above?     I  could 


174  LIFE  AND   TIMliS   OF 

hear  a  stream  of  water  coursing  under  the  walls.  Suppose 
it  should  get  dammed  up,  and  the  building  be  flooded  from 
the  bottom,  I  should  be  the  first  victim.  How  about  fire, 
which  these  floods  of  gas  suggested?  Where  was  the  man 
who  had  the  key  ? — and  would  he  rather  let  us  burn  up  than 
have  us  go  free?  I  got  up  once,  as  I  used  to  when  in  camp 
among  the  mountains,  and  strolled  about  to  accustom  myself 
to  the  novelty  of  the  place.  The  night-watchman  was  eat- 
ing a  hearty  lunch  in  the  dining-room  ;  all  else  was  silent 
and  dead  within  the  house ;  and  without,  the  city  was  at  its 
quietest.  At  long  intervals  the  heavy  horse-car  went  rat- 
tling by.  Then  I  went  back  and  slept,  and  dreamed  of  Fisk's 
young  and  romantic  days  when  I  used  to  meet  him  among 
the  Green  Mountain  towns,  with  his  gay  horses,  and  his 
richly  painted  wagon,  with  his  wife's  pretty  face  in  vivid 
colors  on  its  side,  and  her  pretty  person  by  his  side  under  a 
huge  caleche  on  top  of  the  wagon.  That  was  before  Boston 
had  invited,  and  New  York  had  tempted  ;  before  he  became 
the  Prince  of  Hartford  and  Erie,  and  the  King  of  Erie  ;  be- 
fore other  seductions  than  those  of  power  and  wealth  had 
entered  in  and  possessed  him. 

"  It  was  but  a  hmited  toilet  that  I  could  make  in  the  morn- 
ing. There  was  plenty  of  fresh  water  and  clean  towels,  and 
an  older  inmate  who  came  down  in  velvet  and  beaded  slip- 
pers, and  genteel  morning  jacket,  and  well  furnished  dressing 
case,  offered  me  his  soap,  more  cleanly  than  that  provided 
by  the  city  and  county  of  New  York;  but  with  a  dehcacy 
of  self-respect,  as  well  as  of  respect  for  me,  which  I  am  sure 
Fisk  could  never  appreciate,  he  forbore  to  tender  me  any 
other  of  the  contents  of  his  toilet  box.  To  your  true  resident 
of  Marshalsea,  there  are  limits  to  generosity,  and  to  the  use 
of  things  in   common.     He   observes  the  usages  of  the  best 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  1 75 

society,  that  expects  every  gentleman  to  have  a  hair-brush 
and  tooth-brush  of  his  own.  Then  we  gathered  in  the  office, 
and  sent  out  for  a  news-boy,  who  came  again  and  again  to 
supply  the  extra  demand.  We  were  curious  to  see  how  the 
busy  outside  world  looks  in  at  the  quiet,  self-composed,  self- 
contained  life  of  the  prison-house,  and  even  I  could  not  fail 
to  catch  at  once  the  feeling  of  contempt  with  which  these 
inside  eyes  of  bodies  confined,  but  spirits  free,  looked  out 
upon  the  hot  unrest  and  wrangling  life  of  free  materialities, 
but  enslaved  souls. 

"  Soon  the  morning  calls  began,  and  the  door-bell  was 
continually  ringing.  A  daughter  to  see  a  father,  a  wife  to 
see  her  husband,  a  lawyer  to  find  his  client,  a  brother  to  help 
a  brother  ;  some  for  '  our  set,'  more  for  the  less  cheerful  pris- 
oners above.  We  could  see  the  procession  file  in  from  the 
office ;  a  poor  woman  in  rags,  with  a  baby  folded  in  among 
them,  hurrying  up-stairs  to  find  the  criminal  husband  and 
father,  and  cheer  his  despairing  heart,  and  report  the  state 
of  the  children  without;  here,  too,  an  unmistakable  Fann}^ 
Dorrit  dropped  in  for  a  morning  call  upon  her  Sparkler — no 
tears,  no  tenderness,  '  no  bigod  nonsense'  as  Dickens  has  it, 
trigly  and  daintily  dressed,  chaffing  gaily  with  her  husband 
and  his  companions,  her  hard,  bright  eyes  flashing.  It  was 
sad  indeed  to  witness  the  degree  of  their  induration  to  the 
experience ;  but  again,  a  sweet-faced  and  sad-voiced  daugh- 
ter appeared,  and  held  close  counsel  with  her  father  in  the 
corner,  restoring  one's  faith  in  the  best  and  truest  side  of  hu- 
man nature.  But  my  friends  began  to  pour  in  so  fast  now 
that  I  had  no  time  to  watch  those  of  the  others.  From  now 
till  the  hour  of  release,  their  carriages  rolled  up  every  few 
minutes. 

"  First  came  that  indefatigable  son  of  Springfield,  the  friend 


176  ,  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

of  m}'  youth  and  of  my  manhood,  George  Bliss,  Jr.,  who  had 
spent  the  night  in  proving  the  disloyalty  of  the  Sheriff,  and 
the  close  affihations  of  the  Ring  that  connived  at  my  impris- 
onment, and  who  soon  put  in  train  the  formalities  necessary 
to  both  make  and  break  the  bonds.  Then  Springfield  men 
and  Berkshire  men,  who  happened  to  be  in  town ;  members 
of  Congress ;  old  Californians,  whom  I  had  not  seen  since  the 
Fremont  campaign ;  brother  editors ;  real  estate  owners ; 
millionaires ;  dear  Mr.  Clark,  of  the  Brevoort,  I  could  see 
through  the  windows  unfolding  himself  out  of  his  carriage ; 
the  spirit  and  the  person  that  laid  the  Atlantic  cable,  impa- 
patient  of  every  moment's  delay ;  prominent  lawyers,  whose 
manliness  and  friendship  for  me  Fisk's  money  could  not  sub- 
sidize ; — all  indignant  at  the  meanness  of  the  outrage,  hearty 
in  sympathy,  abounding  in  proffers  of  assistance, — not  one, 
happily,  brought  by  enmity  to  my  persecutors,  but  all  by 
personal  friendship  or  righteous  indignation  at  the  perver- 
sion of  law  to  the  use  of  a  spiteful  revenge — all  by  the  instinct 
of  the  Divine  test,  '  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  visited  me  !'  Dr. 
Holland  writes  that  if  one  wants  to  get  acquainted  with 
Americans,  the  simplest  way  is  to  go  to  Europe.  I  say,  if 
you  would  know  your  friends,  get  imprisoned  in  a  New  York 
jail. 

"  The  humor  of  the  thing  was  gone  now — the  pathos  had 
begun ;  what  Fisk's  night  had  utterly  failed  to  accomplish, 
this  morning's  foray  of  friends  most  easily  and  sweetly  did. 
There  was  a  race  of  bail  bonds;  Mr.  Seward,  taking  the  real- 
estate  along  in  his  carriage,  came  in  ahead  of  Colonel  BHss, 
who  had  to  go  after  his;  and  after  paying  the  jailer  $17.50 
for  my  room  and  breakfast — most  excellent  tea  and  toast,  I 
am  bound  to  say — and  ?2  for  jail  fees,  my  prison  doors  swung 
open,  and  my  night  in  jail  was  ended.     There  are  a  good 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 77 

many  hotels  in  New  York  at  which  one  can  pay  a  great  deal 
of  money  for  very  small  accomodations ;  but  the  Ludlow 
Street  Jail  seems  to  me  to  surpass  them  all  in  that  regard. 
With  such  elements  of  generous  income,  it  can  hardly  be  ex 
cusable  for  the  Republican  Legislature  at  Albany  this  winter 
to  swell  Sheriff  O'Brien's  fees,  and  carry  his  income  up  from 
its  present  $120,000  to  its  desired  $150,000.  What  cost  me 
$19.50  has  probably  cost  him  825,000;  and  judging  from  the 
tendencies  of  pubhc  opinion,  others  in  the  circle  of  conspira- 
tors against  a  country  editor's  liberties  will  pay  dearly  for 
this  little  whistle.  Their  fun  culminated  at  Mr.  Augustus  L. 
Brown's  part}'  the  night  before — mine  is  apparently  not  likely 
ever  to  cease.  For,  such  experience  as  this,  with  its  humor 
and  its  pathos,  its  study  of  a  rare  phase  of  human  life,  its 
wealth  of  friendly  feeling,  will  be  an  unending  source  of  pleas- 
ure and  of  profit As  between  my  enemy  in  this  case 

and  myself,  the  triumph  is  mine,  the  loss  his.  He  sought  to 
disgrace  me,  foolishly  thinking  that  one  man  can  disgrace 
another.  Had  he  been  wiser,  or  had  wiser  counsel,  he  would 
have  known  that  no  man  can  be  disgraced  but  by  himself." 


178  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

FiSK  committed  a  great  blunder  in  speaking-  of  Samuel 
Bowles  in  terms  of  contempt.  He  was  held  in  high  esteem 
by  the  best  people  in  the  country  ;  as  an  editor  he  was  widely 
known  and  respected,  and  his  journal  had  few  equals.  It 
was  always  bold  and  fearless  in  the  promulgation  of  truth 
and  in  the  defense  of  honest  principles.  It  is  to  be  regretted, 
however,  that  while  believing  it  necessary  and  right  to  at- 
tack James  Fisk  in  his  official  capacity  as  Director  of  Erie, 
he  stepped  aside  to  ridicule  the  man  as  an  individual.  The 
questions  which  the  article  was  intended  to  discuss  were  of 
too  serious  a  character  to  be  associated  in  any  way  with 
strictly  personal  allusions,  and  those  of  a  most  offensive  char- 
acter. If  any  further  evidence  were  required  of  the  esteem 
in  which  Mr.  Bowles  was  held,  it  might  be  found  in  the 
names  of  the  gentlemen  who  invited  him  to  a  public  dinner 
immediately  after  his  release  from  Ludlow  Street  Jail.  The 
invitation  was  signed  by  Governor  Bullock,  Governor  Claf- 
lin.  General  N.  P.  Banks,  J.  L.  Motley,  the  historian,  Peter 
Harvey,  George  S.  Hilliard,  Chas.  G.  Green,  Josiah  Quincy, 
General  Charles  Devens,  R.  H.  Dana, — in  short,  by  fifty  of 
the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Boston,  including  men  of 
every  shade  of  political  opinion.  In  his  reply  decHning  the 
dinner,  Mr.  Bowles  spoke  of  the  functions  of  the  press  in  the 
following  language : 

"  The  corruptions  in  politics,  and  the  corruptions  in  busi- 
ness affairs,  have  become  offensive  and  starthng  within  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 79 

last  few  years;  and  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  seems 
at  times  to  have  become  blunted  by  the  successful  display 
and  repetition  of  practices  that  violate  every  principle  of  fair 
dealing  and  integrity,  and  put  the  control  of  government, 
and  the  value  of  many  kinds  of  property  at  the  mercy  of  po- 
litical adventurers  and  ruthless  stock-gamblers.  The  press 
really  seems  to  be  the  best,  if  not  the  only  instrument  with 
which  honest  men  can  fight  these  enemies  of  order  and  in- 
tegrity in  government  and  security  in  property.  I  know  it 
is  often  crude  in  its  reports,  and  wanton  and  cruel  in  its 
comments ;  these  evils  must  and  will  be  corrected  with  its 
growth,— and,  compared  with  its  future,  American  journal- 
ism is  now  but  in  its  feeble  infancy  ; — but  we  have  more  to 
fear  at  present  from  its  good  nature,  from  its  subserviency, 
from  its  indifference,  from  its  fear  to  encounter  prosecution 
and  loss  of  patronage  by  the  exposure  of  the  wrong  and  the 
exposition  of  the  right.  A  courageous  independence  and 
integrity  of  purpose,  coupled  with  a  fearless  expression  of 
truth  as  to  all  public  individuals,  corporations  and  parties, 
are  the  features  in  its  character  to  be  most  encouraged  now. 
We  can  be  patient  with  crudeness,  even  with  a  degree  of 
recklessness,  if  we  can  have  these  other  and  necessary  quali- 
ties in  vigorous  exercise.  The  press  of  to-day  should  be 
what  Russell  Lowell  describes  it,  '  a  dreadful  mastiff  with  a 
scent  so  keen  for  sheep  in  w^olves'  clothing,  and  for  certain 
other  animals  in  lion's  skins,'  rather  than  the  crouching  span- 
iel, begging  for  food  from  every  quarter,  licking  the  hand 
that  disgraces  it,  and  only  mildly  protesting  against  outrages 
upon  itself  and  the  community  it  is  set  to  guard. 

"  My  own  observation  is,  that  the  press  rarely  does  injustice 
to  a  thoroughly  honest  man  or  cause.  It  may  be  deceived 
with  regard  to  a  private  individual,  and  misrepresent  hira 


I  So  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

for  a  time ;  but  with  reference  to  public  men  and  measures, 
its  knowledge  is  more  intimate  and  complete  than  that  of 
any  other  agency  can  be,  and  I  know  that  it  withholds  un- 
justly to  the  pubhc  one  hundred  times,  where  it  speaks 
wrongly  once  of  the  individual." 

Before  Fisk  had  returned  to  New  York  from  Boston,  he 
was  thus  comically  berated  by  a  newspaper  writer: 

"  Mr.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  who  had  Mr.  Bowles  arrested  for 
libel,  is  himself  a  libeller.  He  has  grossly  libelled  two  of  our 
most  prominent  business  men.  Commodore  Vanderbilt  and 
Daniel  Drew ;  and  we  can  see  no  good  reason  why,  when  he 
next  visits  this  city,  he  should  not  be  arrested  at  the  suit  of 
one  or  both  of  them,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Ludlow  Street 
Jail,  at  an  expense  of  nineteen  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  night. 

"Commodore  Vanderbilt  is  the  greatest  railroad  man  in 
the  country,  and  Mr.  Drew  is  the  greatest  founder  of  a 
religious  seminary  in  the  country,  besides  being  as  much  of  a 
railroad  man  as  Mr.  Fisk ;  and  we  do  not  propose  to  look  on 
contentedly  and  see  these  great  New  Yorkers  abused.  Mr. 
Drew  is  not  only  the  founder  of  an  excellent  seminary,  at 
which  the  best  of  morals  are  taught  and  young  men  are 
fitted  for  the  ministry,  but  he  also  knows  how  to  keep  a  hotel, 
and  formerly  kept  the  Bull's  Head ;  and  if  Mr.  Fisk  ever 
stopped  there  when  he  drove  his  peddler's  wagon,  we  dare 
say  he  fared  better  than  he  is  likely  to  in  his  libel  suit. 

"  The  airs  which  Mr.  Fisk  puts  on  toward  Mr,  Vanderbilt 
and  Mr.  Drew  are  certainly  calculated  to  afford  these  gentle- 
men and  the  pubhc  at  large  some  amusement.  Mr.  Fisk 
considers  it  libellous  to  associate  his  name  with  theirs,  and  to 
compare  him  with  them.  Oh !  the  aristocracy,  the  exclusive- 
ness  of  peddlers  who  have  once  reached  the  dignity  of  driv- 
ing four-in-hand ! 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I83 

**  The  derogatory  remarks  of  Mr.  Fisk  about  our  distin- 
tinguished  fellow-citizens  are  contained  in  his  proceedings  in 
the  case  against  Mr,  Bowles.  The  defendant  having  de- 
manded of  plaintiff's  attorney  a  bill  of  particulars,  one  was 
served  accordingly,  containing  a  copy  of  the  entire  article 
published  in  the  Re^ublicati,  and  assigning  the  following  as 
one  of  the  reasons  for  considering  it  libellous:  'And  the  said 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  Daniel  Drew,  also  named  in  said 
libel,  are  persons  who,  having  been  largely  intrusted  with 
the  direction  of  sundry  railroad  corporations,  are  commonly 
reported  to  have  made  use  of  the  power  and  authority  in- 
trusted to  them,  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  sinister  and 
private  ends,  rather  than  in  the  due  discharge  of  their  re- 
spective trusts.' 

"  That  will  do  for  Mr.  Fisk." 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

The  suit,  commenced  by  Fisk  against  Vanderbilt,  to  re- 
cover the  ?5,ooo,ooo  "  extorted  "  from  the  Erie  Directors  in 
exchange  for  50,000  shares  of  stock,  and  to  force  the  Com- 
modore to  take  back  the  stock,  was  again  before  Judge  Bar- 
nard in  January,  1869.  The  main  interest  of  the  great  crowd 
that  thronged  the  court-room  seemed  to  centre  in  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  whose  eccentricities  were  now  widely  known,  and 
whose  every  move  was  as  keenl}-  watched  by  the  public  as 
if  he  were  another  thaumaturgic  Cagliostro. 

When  it  came  his  turn  to  be  examined  in  the  case,  Fisk 
II 


1 84  LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF 

responded  briskly  to  the  call,  and  took  the  stand  with  a 
jaunty  alacrity  which  satisfied  the  spectators  that  he  would 
not  fail  to  give  Ihem  a  rare  treat.  Nor  were  they  disap- 
pointed. The  quaint,  queer  humor  of  the  man,  combined 
with  his  uncommon  shrewdness,  gave  a  character  to  every- 
thing he  said  that  required  nothing  more  than  his  self-satis- 
fied air  and  manner,  and  his  assumption  of  boyish  simplicity, 
to  make  his  testimony  as  interesting  and  laughable  as  the 
funniest  scene  in  the  best  comedy.  The  examination  occu- 
pied some  hours,  but  only  so  much  of  it  is  here  given  as  may 
best  show  the  peculiar  "  twist "  of  the  ex-peddler's  wit  and 
wisdom  : 

Question. — When  did  you  first  meet  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt  on  business  connected  with  the  matters  contained  in  this 
suit? 

Fisk. — I  had  one  interview  with  the  Commodore  some 
time  last  summer.  It  was  pretty  warm — not  the  interview, 
but  the  weather.  I  remember  that  well,  because  the  Com- 
modore was  a  little  profane  about  it.  (Laughter.)  I  can't 
exactly  fix  the  date  of  the  first  interview,  but  I  know  that  it 
was  after  my  return  from  Jersey.  I  had  been  absent  in  Jer- 
sey for  a  short  lapse  of  time,  (laughter  all  over  the  court- 
room, even  the  judge  relaxing  into  a  broad  smile,)  and  when 
I  got  back,  I  thought  I  would  make  the  Commodore  a  friendly 
call.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Did  3^ou  call  on  Mr.  Vanderbilt  ? 

Fisk. — I  think  I  did.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Do  3'ou  know  that  you  did  ? 

Fisk. — Most  undoubtedly.  (Laughter.)  The  recollection 
thereof  is  vivid  and  the  memory  green.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — What  passed  at  the  interview  between  you  and  Com- 
modore Vanderbilt? 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  1 85 

Fisk. — Well,  the  Commodore  received  me  with  the  most 
distinguished  courtesy,  and  overwhelmed  me  with  a  perfect 
ambulance  of  good  wishes  for  my  health.  When  we  sat 
down  and  got  fairly  quiet,  we  came  plump  up  to  the  matter 
that  was  uppermost,  and  then  we  had  it  out.  From  the  be- 
ginnning  I  saw  that  Vanderbilt  would  try  the  gum  game — 

Q. — What  do  you  mean  by  the  gum  game,  Mr.  Fisk? 

Fisk. — Well,  it  would  take  a  long  time  to  explain  that. 
You  see,  it's  a  game  that  so  many  can  play  at  (laughter) ; 
and  every  man  has  his  own  peculiar  way  in  dealing  and  cut- 
ting and  working  for  points.  What  I  mean  is,  that  I  saw 
that  Vanderbilt  was  cunning — not  half  as  cunning  as  Drew 
though — and  I  thought  that  pr'aps  I  wouldn't  stand  much 
chance  with  him.  He  has  the  advantage  of  years  on  his  side, 
and  a  good  deal  of  promiscuous  experience.  Well,  he  told 
me  that  several  of  the  Directors  were  trying  to  make  a  trade 
with  him,  and  he  would  like  to  know  who  was  the  best  man 
to  trade  with.  "  Why,"  said  I,  "  if  the  trade  is  a  good,  honest 
one,  you'd  better  trade  w-ith  me."  (Laughter.)  Then  he 
said  that  old  man  Drew  was  no  better  than  a  batter  pudding, 
(laughter,)  or  words  to  that  effect ;  that  Eldridge  was  de- 
moralized, and  that  our  concern  v/as  without  head  or  tail. 
(Laughter.)  This  wasn't  overly  comphmentar}'- ;  but,  after 
thinking  a  minute,  I  said  I  thought  so,  too.  (Laughter,  in 
which  the  court  was  forced  to  join.)  Then  he  became  very 
earnest,  and  said  he  had  got  his  blood-hounds  on  us,  and 
would  pursue  us  until  we  took  that  damned  stock  off  his 
hands — he'd  be  damned  if  he  w^ould  keep  it.  I  \vas  grieved 
to  hear  him  swear  so,  (laughter,)  but  being  obliged  to  say 
something,  I  remarked  quietly  that  T  'd  be  damned  if  we  'd 
take  it  back,  (great  laughter,)  and  that  we  'd  sell  him  stock 
jest  as  long  as  he  'd  stand  up  and  take  it.     (Great  laughter.) 


1 86  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Well,  when  1  made  this  observation,  the  Commodore  mel- 
loAved  down  a  little,  (laughter,)  and  said  he  thought  it  would 
be  a  great  deal  better  for  us  to  get  together  and  arrange  this 
matter.  Then  he  began  to  tell  tales.  (Laughter.)  He  told 
me  that  Daniel  Drew,  when  Ave  were  suffering  in  exile  over 
in  Jersey,  (laughter,)  used  to  slip  off  to  New  York  at  night, 
whenever  he  could  get  away  from  our  vigilance ;  that  Drew 
would  come  to  his  house — the  Commodore's — and  let  out 
our  little  secrets.  Then  he  wanted  to  know  if  a  trade  with 
Drew  and  Eldridge  could  be  slipped  through  our  Board,  ad- 
ding in  a  sort  of  a  seductive  way,  that  if  it  could,  we  should 
all  be  landed  safe  in  the  haven  of  peace  and  harmony. 
(Pause.) 

Q.— Well,  what  then,  Mr.  Fisk? 

Fisk  (with  a  look  of  virtuous  determination.) — Of  course, 
I  told  him  I  would  not  agree  to  anything  of  the  kind  ;  that  I 
would  not  submit  to  a  robbery  of  the  road  under  any  cir- 
cumstances ;  and  that  I  was  dumbfounded,  actually  thunder- 
struck, to  think  that  our  Directors,  whom  I  had  always 
esteemed  as  honorable  men,  (great  laughter,)  would  have 
anything  to  do  with  such  outrageous  proceedings. 

Q. — Is  that  all  that  was  said  ? 

Fisk. — I  rather  think  not.  (Laughter.)  We  talked  about 
half  an  hour,  and  I  think  I  could  say  a  great  deal  more  than 
that  in  half  an  hour.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Can  you  repeat  anything  more  that  was  said  ? 

Fisk. — I  don't  remember  what  more  was  said.  I  remem- 
ber that  the  Commodore  put  on  his  other  shoe.  (Laughter.) 
I  remember  the  shoe  on  account  of  the  buckles.  (Laughter.) 
You  see,  there  were  four  buckles  on  that  shoe.  (Laughter.) 
I  had  n't  ever  seen  any  of  that  kind  before,  and  I  remember 
it  passed  through  my  mind  that  if  such  men  wore  that  kind 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  187 

of  shoe,  I  must  get  me  a  pair.  (Great  laughter.)  This  passed 
through  my  mind,  but  I  did  n't  speak  of  it  to  the  Commodore. 
I  was  very  civil  to  him.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Where  was  Gould  all  this  time? 

Fisk. — He  was  in  the  front  room — I  suppose.  I  left  him 
there  and  found  him  there,  but  I  don't  know  where  he  may 
have  been  in  the  meantime.     (Laughter), 

Q. — Where  was  your  next  interview  with  Mr.  Vanderbilt? 

Fisk. — The  next  interview  was  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Pierre- 
pont.  Gould  and  I  had  an  appointment  with  Eldridge  at 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  and  as  we  did  not  find  him  there,  we 
went  out  to  see  if  we  could  find  him. 

Q. — Can  you  give  the  date  of  that  meeting  ? 

Fisk. — No,  sir. 

Q. — Can  you  give  the  week? 

Fisk. — No,  sir. 

Q. — Can  you  give  the  month? 

Fisk. — No,  sir. 

Q. — Can  you  give  the  year? 

Fisk. — No,  sir.  .  Not  without  reference.  (This  reply  was 
accompanied  by  such  a  quizzical  expression  of  face  that 
everybody  was  forced  to  laugh.) 

Q. — What  reference  do  you  want  ? 

Fisk. — Well,  I  shall  have  to  refer  back  to  the  various 
events  of  my  life  to  see  just  where  that  day  comes  in,  and 
the  almighty  robbery  committed  by  this  man  Vanderbilt 
against  the  Erie  Railway  was  the  most  impressive  event  in 
my  life.  (Laughter.)  The  meeting  at  Pierrepont's  Avas  a  week 
or  ten  days  after  the  first  interview  with  Vanderbilt.  Gould 
and  I  went  there  about  9  o'clock.  We  stepped  into  the  hall 
together.  We  asked  if  Mr.  Pierrepont  was  in.  The  servant 
said  he  would  see.    When  the  servant  went  into  the  drawing- 


1 88  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

room,  I  was  very  careful  to  keep  on  a  line  with  the  door,  so  I 
could  see  in.  (Laughter.)  Presently  Mr.  Pierrcpont  stepped 
into  the  hall,  resembling  a  man  who  Avasn't  in  much,  (Laugh 
ter.)  I  asked  him  if  our  president  was  there.  After  some 
thoughtfulness  on  his  part,  he  said  he  thought  he  was. 
(Laughter.)  During  this  time  I  had  moved  along  toward  the 
drawing-room  door,  Mr.  Pierrepont  having  neglected  to  in- 
vite us  in.     (Laughter.) 

O. — Where  was  Gould? 

Fisk.- — Oh,  he  was  just  behind  me;  he's  ahvays  right  be- 
hind at  such  times,  (laughter,)  and  while  he  entertained 
Pierrepont  I  opened  the  door  and  stepped  in,  (laughter,) 
and  found  most  of  our  Directors  there.  I  stepped  up  to  Mr. 
Eldridge  and  told  him  we  had  been  to  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel  and  did  not  find  him.  He  said  he  knew  he  was  not 
there.  (Laughter.)  I  asked  what  was  going  on,  and  every- 
body seemed  to  wait  for  some  one  else  to  answer.  (Laugh- 
ter.) Being  better  acquainted  with  Drew  than  any  of  the 
rest  of  them,  though  perhaps  having  less  confidence  in  him, 
(laughter,)  I  asked  him  what  under  heavens  was  up.  He  said 
they  were  arranging  the  suits.  I  told  him  they  ought  to 
adopt  a  very  different  manner  of  doing  it  than  being  there  in 
the  night — that  no  settlement  could  be  made  without  requir- 
ing the  money  of  the  Corporation.  He  begun  to  picture  his 
miseries  to  me,  told  me  how  he  had  suffered  during  his  pil- 
grimage, saying  he  was  worn  and  thrown  away  from  his 
family,  and  wanted  to  settle  matters  up ;  that  he  had  done 
everything  he  could,  and  saw  no  other  way  out  either  for 
himself  or  the  Company.  I  told  him  I  guessed  he  was  more 
particular  about  himself  than  the  Company,  and  he  said,  well, 
he  was ;  (laughter ;)  that  he  was  an  old  man  and  w^anted  to 
get  out  of  the  fight  and  his  troubles;    that   he  was   much 


JAMES   IISK,   JR.  189 

older  in  such  affairs  than  we  were — I  was  very  glad  to  hear 
him  say  that — (laughter)  and  that  it  was  no  uncommon  thing 
for  great  corporations  to  make  arrangements  of  this  sort.  1 
told  him  if  that  was  the  case  I  thought  our  state  prison 
ought  to  be  enlarged.  (Laughter.)  Then  Eldridge,  he  took 
hold  of  me.  He  talked  about  his  great  exertions,  what  he 
had  done  and  consummated,  that  there  were  only  two  dis- 
senting voices  in  the  Board — Gould  and  myself — and  that  if 
we  came  into  the  matter  to-morrow  the  Company  would  be 
free  and  clear  of  litigation  and  everything  would  be  all  right, 
as  he  had  got  the  Commodore  and  Work  and  Schell  to  set- 
tle on  a  price.  I  told  him  I  couldn't  sec  it.  I  had  fought 
that  position  for  seven  months,  night  and  day,  and  for  seven 
weeks  in  Jersey  I  had  hardly  taken  off  my  clothes,  fighting 
to  keep  the  money  of  the  Company  from  being  robbed  ;  and 
I  could  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not  fight  it  on  still. 
He  said  he  didn't  want  to  go  into  it,  but  had  tried  to  do  the 
best  he  could  with  Gould  and  myself,  and  could  do  nothing, 
and  now  an  arrangement  had  been  made  with  Vanderbilt, 
and  it  was  all  right  and  must  go  through  that  night.  I  said 
I  did  not  believe  it  was  legal ;  these  lawyers  were  all  on  one 
side,  and  I  wanted  to  see  my  lawyer.  He  said  that  Avas  no 
good.  (Laughter.)  Then  Mr.  Pierrepont  argued  with  me. 
He  said  he  did  not  think  there  was  any  one  present  who  was 
not  going  to  derive  benefit  from  it.  Rapallo  was  writing  at 
a  table.  Schell  was  buzzing  around,  (laughter,)  interested 
in  getting  his  share  of  the  plunder.  Work  was  sitting  on  a 
sofa.  I  had  nothing  to  say  to  him,  (laughter,)  as  we  were 
not  on  very  good  terms,  Gould  and  I  had  a  conversation 
together,  and  not  till  12  o'clock  at  night  did  we  give  our 
consent.  I  told  him  I  did  not  believe  the  proceedings  were 
legal ;  that  we  had  no  lawyers ;  that  the  lawyers  there  were 


igO  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

sold  to  Eldridge — hook,  line  and  sinker.  (Laughter.)  Gould 
said  Eldridge  had  paid  Evarts  $10,000  for  an  opinion  that  it 
was  all  right,  and  Dorraan  Eaton  had  been  paid  $15,000  for 
an  opinion,  and  said  it  was  legal.  I  told  him  I  thought  it  a 
queer  way  of  classif3ing  opinions.  (Laughter.)  Gould  con- 
sented first.  He  said  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  do  so  as 
the  best  way  to  get  out  of  the  matter.  I  told  him  I  would 
consent  if  he  did.  Drew  came  to  me  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
and  asked  me  to  consent,  and  I  consented.  Then  there  was 
some  paper  drawn  up  and  passed  around  for  us  to  sign.  I 
don't  know  what  it  contained.  I  didn't  read  it.  I  don't 
think  I  noticed  a  word  of  it.  I  don't  know  the  contents,  and 
have  always  been  glad  I  didn't.  (Laughter.)  I  have  thought 
of  it  a  thousand  times.  I  don't  know  what  other  documents 
I  signed — signed  everything  that  was  put  before  me.  (Laugh- 
ter.) After  the  devil  once  got  hold  of  me  I  kept  on  signing. 
(Laughter.)  Didn't  read  any  of  them,  and  have  no  idea  what 
they  were.  Don't  know  how  many  I  signed — kept  no  ac- 
count after  the  first.  I  went  with  the  robbers  then  and  have 
been  with  them  ever  since.  (Laughter.)  After  signing  all 
the  papers  I  took  my  hat  and  left  at  once  in  disgust.  (Laugh- 
ter.) I  don't  know  whether  we  sat  down  or  not.  I  know 
we  didn't  have  anything  to  eat.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Didn't  you  have  a  glass  of  wine  or  something  of  that 
sort? 

Fisk. — I  don't  remember. 

O. — Wouldn't  that  have  made  an  impression  upon  you? 
(Laughter.) 

Fisk. — No,  sir!  I  never  drink.  (Laughter.)  T  think  I 
left  at  once  as  soon  as  I  had  done  signing.  As  we  went  out 
I  said  to  Gould  we  had  sold  ourselves  to  the  devil.  (Laugh- 
ter.)   He  agreed  to  that  and  said  he  thought  so  too.    (Laugh- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I9I 

ten)  I  remember  Mr.  White,  the  cashier,  coming  in  with 
the  check-book  under  his  arm,  and  as  he  came  in  I  said  to 
him  that  he  was  bearing^  in  the  balance  of  the  remains  of 
our  Corporation  to  put  into  Vanderbilt's  tomb.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — When  was  the  next  interview? 

Fisk. — The  next  interview  with  Vanderbilt  was  several 
days  after. 

Q. — Was  Gould  with  you  ? 

Fisk. — Yes,  sir  !  We  never  parted  during  that  war. 
(Laughter.)  We  went  to  his  office  one  morning  and  found 
his  man  Friday  in  the  front  room.  (Laughter.)  Don't  know 
his  name.  It  was  the  same  man  I  had  seen  a  hundred  times 
before  when  I  had  been  tiiere  with  Drew.  We  found  the 
Commodore  in  the  back  room.  I  asked  him  how  he  was 
getting  on.  He  said,  "  First-rate  "  (laughter) ;  that  he  had 
got  the  thing  all  arranged,  and  the  only  question  now  was 
whether  it  could  be  slipped  through  our  Board.  I  told  him 
that  after  what  I  had  seen  the  other  night,  I  thought  an}-- 
thing  could  be  slipped  through.  (Laughter.)  He  said  we 
would  have  to  manage, it  carefully.  I  told  him  I  didn't  think 
so — that  they  would  be  careful  to  go  it  blind.  (Laughter.) 
He  said  the  trade  had  been  consummated  at  Pierrcpont's 
house.  I  said  1  had  no  doubt  of  it.  He  said  it  ought  not  to 
have  been  carried  out ;  that  Schell  had  got  the  lion's  share, 
and  some  of  the  lawyers  on  the  other  side  might  have  to  go 
hungry.  (Laughter.)  He  asked  if  we  were  conversant  with 
the  rest  of  the  trade.  I  said  I  had  no  doubt  the  whole 
thing  had  been  cooked  up  in  such  a  manner  that  it  could  be 
put  through.  (Laughter.)  He  spoke  about  putting  Banker 
and  Stewart  into  our  Board,  and  said  it  would  help  both  him 
and  us  carr}^  our  stock,  as  people  would  say  we  had  amalga- 
mated, and  Vanderbilt's  men   coming  into  the  Erie  Board 


192  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

would  strengthen  the  market.  That  Avas  admitted,  but  it 
worked  rather  different  from  what  we  expected.  (Laughter.) 
I  next  saw  him  a  day  or  two  before  the  prosecution  was 
closed  up.  Gould  thought  the  Commodore's  losses  had  not 
been  so  large  as  represented,  and  asked  to  see  his  broker's 
account.  The  Commodore  said  he  never  showed  anything, 
and  we  must  take  his  word.  He  reiterated  his  losses,  and 
said  they  were  so  large  because,  when  they  had  got  him  to 
give  his  order  to  sustain  the  market,  the  skunks  had  run  and 
sold  out  on  him.  (Laughter.)  As  we  were  coming  away  he 
said,  "  Boys,  you  are  young,  and  if  you  carry  out  this  settle- 
ment there  will  be  peace  and  harmony  between  the  roads." 
Previous  to  commencing  this  suit,  I  made  a  tender  of  50,000 
shares  of  Erie  stock  to  Vanderbilt.  I  went  up  to  his  house 
in  company  with  T.  G.  Shearman.  I  received  the  certifi- 
cates of  shares  from  Gould  and  put  them  in  a  black  satchel. 
(Laughter.)  It  was  a  bad,  stormy  day,  so  we  got  into  a  car- 
riage and  I  held  the  satchel  tight  between  my  legs,  (laugh- 
ter,) knowing  they  were  valuable.  (Laughter.)  I  told  Shear- 
man not  much  reliance  could  be  placed  on  him  if  we  were 
attacked,  he  was  such  a  little  fellow.  (Laughter,  in  which  Mr. 
Shearman  joined.)  We  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  it  was 
dangerous  property  to  travel  with — (laughter) — might  blow 
up.  (Laughter.)  We  rang  the  bell  and  went  in.  The  gen- 
tleman came  down  and  I  said,  "  Good  morning,  Commodore. 
I  have  come  to  tender  you  fifty  thousand  shares  of  Erie  stock, 
and  demand  back  the  securities  and  money."  He  said  he 
had  had  no  transactions  with  the  Erie  Railway  Company, 
(laughter,)  and  would  have  to  consult  his  counsel.  I  told  him 
I  also  demanded  a  million  of  dollars  paid  him  for  losses  he 
purported  to  have  sustained.  He  said  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  (laughter,)  and  I  bade  him  good  morning.  (Laughter.) 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  I93 

Q. — When  were  you  made  a  Director  of  the  Company? 

Fisk. — I  became  a  Director  in  the  Erie  Railway  on  thc 
13th  of  October,  1867. 

Q. — You  remember  that  date? 

Fisk. — I  do,  well !     It  forms  an  episode  in  my  life. 

Q. — What  fixes  it  in  your  mind  so  well  ? 

Fisk. — I  had  no  gray  hairs  then.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — You  have  gray  hxiirs  now  ? 

Fisk. — Plenty  of  them.  And  I  saw  more  robbery  during 
the  next  year  than  I  ever  dreamed  of  as  possible. 

Q. — You  saw  it,  did  you  ? 

Fisk. — I  didn't  see  it,  but  I  knew  it  was  going  on.  I  am 
now  a  Director  of  the  Erie  Railway,  and  its  Comptroller. 
My  duty  as  Comptroller  is  to  audit  all  the  bills  ;  as  Director, 
to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Corporation — honestly.  (Laugh- 
ter.) 

As  the  witness  was  about  leaving  the  stand,  he  turned  to 
Judge  Barnard  and  said,  with  a  serio-comic  expression  of 
bashfulness  and  timidity  upon  his  broad  face  : 

"  I  would  like  to  make  an  apology  to  the  Court.  This  is 
the  first  time  I've  been  on  the  stand,  and  I  may  overstep 
some  of  the  rules.  (Laughter.)  If  I  do,  it  is  wholly  in  ig- 
norance. It  is  new  business  to  me,  and  if  I  don't  keep  within 
the  rules,  I  ask  my  counsel  to  guide  me,  for  I  don't  know 
when  I  may  be  imposed  on."     (Laughter.) 

"Oh,"  said  one  of  the  Vanderbilt  counsel,  "your  lawyer 
^ill  look  out  for  you." 

Fisk. — Don't  give  yourself  any  trouble  about  that.  I  am 
abundantly  able,  with  the  aid  of  his  Honor,  to  look  out  for 
myself.     (Laughter.) 

"You  seem  to  be  a  very  frank,  outspoken,  straightforward 
witness,  Mr.  Fisk,"  said  the  lawyer.     (Laughter.) 


194  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Fisk. — Well,  you  see,  I  am  not  much  accustomed  to  you 
fellows.  (Laughter.)  I  was  never  on  the  stand  as  a  witness 
but  once  before. 

"  When  was  that,  Mr.  Fisk?" 

Fisk. — That  was  up  in  Vermont  when  I  was  a  boy.  It 
was  in  a  cow  case.     (Great  laughter.) 

This  exhibition  of  good-natured  audacity  was  the  talk  of 
the  town  the  next  day,  and  Fisk  became  more  and  more  the 
lion  of  New  York,  and  the  cynosure  of  the  quidnuncs'  eyes. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

January  i2TH,  1869,  the  opening  of  the  Albany  and  Sus- 
quehanna Railroad  took  place,  more  than  5,000  persons  tak- 
ing part  in  the  ceremonies.  The  fact  is  mentioned  here 
merely  because  the  new  road  was  destined  to  figure  very 
extensively  in  the  history  of  Erie  before  the  close  of  the 
year. 

A  month  previous  to  the  date  above  given.  Jay  Gould  and 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  purchased  of  S.  N.  Pike  the  splendid  marble 
building  on  the  north-east  corner  of  Eighth  Avenue  and 
Twenty-third  street,  and  after  remodelling  its  interior,  and 
fitting  it  up  in  a  style  of  grandeur  almost  unsurpassed,  they 
christened  it  the  "  Grand  Opera  House,"  and  rented  the 
greater  part  of  the  building  to  the  Erie  Railway  Company 
for  offices,  at  a  yearly  rental  of  875,000,  or  about  ten  per  cent, 
of  its  cost.     Fisk,  carrying  out  a  design  that  he  had  long 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  I95 

contemplated,  refitted  and  refurnished  the  theatre,  which, 
under  Pike's  management,  had  been  a  failure,  and  with  a  fine 
Opera  Bouffe  troupe  from  Paris  brought  out  in  rapid  suc- 
cession a  number  of  Offenbach's  pieces. 

Some  two  months  before  Gould  and  Fisk  purchased  the 
Grand  Opera  House,  which  w^as  alwa3's  a  "  Grand  Opera 
House  "  without  the  grand  opera,  the  former  proprietor,  Mr. 
Pike,  had  rented  one  of  the  large  halls  on  the  second  floor  to 
Dr.  R.  P.  Perry,  the  leader  and  superintendent  of  the  New 
York  Sunday-School  Union,  for  mission  purposes.  One  day, 
about  the  middle  of  January,  the  teachers  and  pupils  found 
the  doors  closed  against  them.  A  demand  w^as  made  b}'  the 
superintendent  that  he  and  his  flock  be  allowed  to  enter,  but 
this  was  refused,  whereupon  a  meeting  was  organized  upon 
the  sidewalk,  and  the  following  resolutions  unanimously 
adopted : 

"  Resolved,  I.  That,  holding  as  we  do,  a  three  years'  lease  of 
our  hall,  and  having  performed,  and  standing  ready  to  per- 
form, all  obligations  on  our  part  as  to  rent  or  otherwise, 
there  is  no  man,  or  corporation  of  men,  that  can  rightfully  or 
legally  deprive  us  of  the  full  enjoyment  of  our  privileges 
under  the  said  lease. 

"  2.  That  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  the  representative  of  the  Erie 
Railway  Company,  through  whose  instrumentality  this  un- 
precedented action  has  been  taken,  in  thus  designedly  lock- 
ing the  doors  of  our  hall  against  us,  and  in  detaining  our 
property,  has  deliberately  attempted  to  destroy  our  organiza- 
tion, and  interfere  with  the  usefulness  of  a  prosperous  Sun- 
day-school ;  that  he  has  not,  in  fact,  the  faintest  shadow  of 
an  excuse  or  paUiation ;  and  that  he  has  been  guilty  of  a 
high-handed  ofiense  against  the  rights  of  the  community 
receiving-  the  benefits  of  the  school. 


196  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"  3.  That  no  reliance  of  the  author  or  authors  of  this  out- 
rage upon  influences  to  protect  and  shield  them  shall  hinder 
or  deter  us  from  doing  all  in  our  power  to  recover  our  lost 
rights,  and  reestablish  ourselves  in  our  Sunday-home." 

In  a  day  or  two  the  other  side  of  the  story  was  told  in  the 
following  letter,  addressed  to  the  editor  of  one  of  the 
morning  papers,  by  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  James  Fisk's 
counsel : 

"  Sir, — Your  journal  contains  resolutions,  adopted  by  a 
Sunday-school,  (recently  meeting  at  Pike's  Opera  House,) 
denouncing  Mr.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  by  name,  as  having  been 
guilty  of  a  *  high-handed  offense,'  in  excluding  the  school, 
without  '  the  faintest  shadow  of  excuse  or  palliation.'  These 
resolutions  are  simply  the  culmination  of  a  prolonged  and 
ingenious  attempt  to  compel  the  present  proprietors  of 
Pike's  Opera  House  to  subscribe  a  large  sum  in  support  of 
Mr.  Perry's  Mission  School.  And  as  I  have  advised  Mr. 
Fisk  to  pursue  the  course  he  has  taken,  I  feel  no  hesitation 
in  meeting  the  issue  personally,  and  showing  the  character 
of  the  transaction,  not  merely  upon  my  responsibility  as 
counsel,  but  as  a  friend  of  Sunday-schools,  and  for  many 
years  a  teacher  myself."  Mr.  S.  N.  Pike,  with  a  liberality 
very  creditable  to  him,  gave  Mr.  Perry  a  so-called  lease  of  a 
large  room  in  the  Opera  House,  for  use  on  Sundays  onl}',  at 
S500  a  year,  the  property  being  well  worth  $1,500.  Almost 
immediately  afterward,  he  sold  the  Opera  House  to  Messrs. 
Fisk  and  Gould,  and  gave  a  deed  warranting  it  free  from  all 
leases,  it  may  be  by  mistake.  Messrs.  Fisk  and  Gould  found 
it  absolutely  necessary  to  divide  the  room  thus  rented  into 
smaller  offices,  if  it  was  to  be  of  any  use  to  them  during  the 

*  Mr.  Shearman  has  been  for  some  years  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
School  attached  to  Mr.  Beecher's  (Plymouth)  Church,  in  Brooklyn. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  ic^j 

week.  They,  therefore,  sent  to  Mr.  Perry,  exi)huned  the 
circumstances,  and  desired  to  make  an  amicable  settlement. 
Mr.  Perry  asked  that  a  new  school-house  should  be  built  for 
his  flock,  at  an  expense  of  between  ?20,ooo  and  ^^'40,000,  as  a 
condition  of  their  retirement.  An  estimable  gentleman  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  Perry  in  the  work,  advised  him  to  reduce 
his  demand  to  ^5,000  in  cash,  which  he  ultimately  did  ;  but  a 
day  or  two  afterward,  he  having  employed  a  lawyer,  the 
figure  was  raised  to  v6,ooo.  Messrs.  Fisk  and  Gould  then 
offered  to  secure  any  one  of  several  comfortable  halls  in  the 
neighborhood,  to  furnish  it  with  seats,  and  to  pay  the  rent 
for  three  years,  such  rent  being  double  that  w^hich  the  Sun- 
day-school had  agreed  to  pay.  This  offer  was  rej'ected,  and 
they  were  told  plainly  that  Mr.  Perry  would  have  cash,  and 
nothing  else.  The  rent  was  not  paid  or  tendered  when  due, 
nor  has  it  ever  been  paid.  Messrs.  Fisk  and  Gould,  there- 
lore,  acting  upon  the  advice  given  to  them,  took  possession 
of  their,  own.  Yours  obediently, 

"Thomas  G.  Shearman." 

The  threat  of  Dr.  Perry  against  the  proprietors  of  the 
Opera  House  was  never  executed.  It  is  said  that  Fisk  and 
Gould  generously  forgave  Dr.  Perry  his  debt  and  in  addition 
presented  the  Sunday-school  with  Siooo. 

The  air  was  now  full  of  rumors  in  regard  to  the  proposed 
extension  of  old  roads  and  the  building  of  new  ones.  One  of 
the  most  important  was  that  in  reference  to  the  Erie  Rail- 
way. It  was  said  that  they  had  completed  their  arrange- 
ments for  broad-gauge  connections  with  both  St.  Louis  and 
Chicago.  "  To  Cincinnati,"  said  rumor,  "  they  will  operate 
the  Atlantic  and  Great  Western,  which  they  have  leased, 
and  thence  to  St.  Louis  they  have  made  a  partnership  ar 


198  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

rangement  with  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  so  that  its  proposed 
change  of  gauge  will  be  stopped,  and  it  will  be  run  on  joint 
account  with  Erie.  The  connection  wdth  Chicago  is  to  be 
made  through  the  Columbus,  Chicago  and  Indiana  Central 
line,  which  crosses  the  Great  Western  at  Urbana.  The 
various  roads  leased  of  this  Company  are  715  miles  long. 
One  of  them,  extending  to  Indianapolis,  is  also  to  be  laid 
with  a  broad-gauge,  and  the  Erie  people  are  bargaining  for 
one  of  the  lines  that  reach  westward  from  that  city."  At 
Chicago  there  was  also  a  report  that  the  Erie  Directors 
were  negotiating  for  the  Rock  Island  line,  with  a  view  to 
lay  a  third  rail  over  its  entire  present  and  prospective  length, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  connection  with  the  eastern  terminus  of 
the  Union  Pacific.  There  was  an  audacity  and  magnificence 
about  these  alleged  plans  which  agreed  well  with  the  char- 
acter and  habits  of  the  two  leading  spirits  of  Erie,  and  the 
public  were  hopeful  that,  in  time,  their  projects  would  be 
carried  out,  and  that  the  Erie,  Atlantic  and  Great  Western, 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  Columbus,  Chicago  and  Indiana 
Central,  an  aggregate  already  provided  of  2,117  rniles  of 
broad-gauge  railway  would  be  operated  substantially,  if  not 
actually,  under  one  single  management. 

These  various  projected  movements  gave  rise  to  much 
serious  discussion  among  parties  interested  in  railroads  ;  but 
there  was  another  class,  the  newspaper  men,  who,  although 
supposed  to  know  everything,  were  very  much  exercised  to 
understand  this  subject  at  all.  One  of  them,  in  despair,  when 
called  upon  by  the  journal  he  represented  to  write  an  edito- 
rial embodying  the  facts,  ground  out  for  the  Cincinnati  Times 
the  following  lucid  explanation  : 

"  We  are  satisfied  that  the  public  are  a  good  deal  perplexed 
to  understand  all  about  the  numerous  railroad  schemes,  com- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  20I 

binations,  etc.,  that  have  been  going  on  during  the  past  few 
weeks,  and  our  readers,  although  the  most  intelligent  por- 
tion of  the  public,  arc  no  doubt  greatly  mystified  about  il 
also.  We  candidly  acknowledge  that  we  were  a  little  in 
doubt  ourself,  until  we  made  a  determined  and  thorough 
examination  of  the  subject;  but  now  it  is  all  as  clear  as  mud 
to  us.  We  know  all  about  it,  and  are  enabled  to  make  our 
readers  understand  it,  too. 

"  You  see,  the  Atlantic  and  Great  Pan-Handle  Railroad 
Company,  having  leased  the  Sharpsburg  cut-off,  together 
with  its  connections — including,  of  course,  its  uncles,  aunts, 
cousins,  and  their  connections — so  as  to  control  the  traffic 
over  the  Harrison  Pike,  it  became  necessary  for  the  Chicago, 
Fort  Wayne  and  Pittsburgh  Railroad  to  buy  up  the  capital 
stock  of  the  Hamilton,  Indianapolis  Central  and  Little  Miami, 
if  they  could  hope  to  expect  to  maintain  their  hold  upon  the 
trade  of  Licking  River  and  Duck  Creek.  Another  object 
was  to  get  into  the  Cleveland  Union  Depot  at  St.  Paul  in 
advance  of  Alexander  Hamilton's  stages. 

"  Then  the  New  York  Central  (Park)  Company,  holding  a 
majority  of  the  stock  in  the  Pennsylvania  Southern  and 
Northern  Alaska  Railroad,  executed  a  flank  movement  by 
leasing  the  stockholders  of  the  Susquehanna  and  Chesapeake 
Canal,  thereby  securwg  a  direct  broad-gauge  route  from  the  Isle 
of  St.  Thonas  to  the  foot  of  Fifth  Street.  This,  of  course, 
necessitates  the  buying  up  of  the  Fifth  Street  Ferry  Dock 
property,  or  the  construction  of  a  bridge  connecting  the 
Union  Base-ball  Grounds  with  Eden  Park — a  harmonious 
blending  of  the  East  and  West  interests. 

"  Vanderbilt,  who  wants  to  be  considered  the  Colossus  of 
Rhodes — that  is  to  say,  of  rail-roads — is  determined  to  cut 
off  the  Pennsylvania  Central  from  the  Northwest.     He  sent 

12 


202  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

a  man  up  there  yesterday  to  cut  it  off,  but  at  this  writing  the 
result  is  not  known. 

"  The  Pennsylvania  Central  immediately  turned  about  and 
gobbled  up  the  Jack  Noble  Dughill  Railroad,  and  then 
effected  a  lease  of  the  old  reliable  Corduroy  Road,  by  which 
move  they  cunningly  monopohze  the  commerce  of  Cheviot, 
forming  the  only  direct  line  between  that  flourishing  section 
and  the  principal  markets  of  Europe. 

"  There  was  considerable  excitement  at  the  sale  of  the 
Dughill  Road,  which  took  place  yesterday.  More  stock- 
holders voted  than  were  on  the  books  of  the  company,  and, 
on  examination,  it  was  discovered  that  one  was  a  whip-stock 
holder;  (a  low  stage-driver;)  another  held  no  stock  except  an 
old-fashioned  one.  he  wore  around  his  neck  ;  another  kept  a 
stock-yard  ;  while  a  fourth  was  simply  a  holder  of  old  stock 
ale— the  heaviest  stockholder  in  the  lot.  This  latter  individ- 
ual was  detected  when  it  was  proposed  to  '  water  the 
stock,'  when  he  howled  dismally. 

"  All  that  is  now  needed  to  complete  our  brilliant  combin- 
ations is  a  railroad  starting  at  the  Little  Miami  elevator  and 
running  up  Deer  Creek,  along  the  Eggleston  Avenue,  to  in- 
tersect with  the  affluent  pipe  and  the  Mill-Creek  Improve- 
ments ;  thence  along  Western  Avenue  to  the  Lunatic  Asylum, 
which  will,  unquestionably,  be  a  grand  Union  depot — at  least 
for  all  railroad  men,  and  those  others  who  attempt  to  com- 
prehend their  gigantic  railroad  schemes." 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  203 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Almost  from  the  day  it  was  opened,  the  Albany  and  Sus- 
quehanna Railroad  had  been  a  bone  of  contention  between 
two  rival  cliques.  James  Ramsey,  who  was  in  reality  the 
builder  of  the  road,  having  labored  almost  against  hope  for 
seventeen  years  to  secure  its  completion,  was  the  President 
of  the  Company.  The  Board  of  Directors  were  divided, 
about  half  of  them  being  strongly  opposed  to  Ramsey. 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  and  Jay  Gould  had  long  had  their  eyes  upon 
the  Albany  and  Susquehanna.  It  connected  with  the  Erie  at 
Binghamton,  and  commanded  the  trade  of  one  of  the  most 
fertile  regions  in  New  York  State.  If  m.ade  a  part  of  the 
Erie  road  it  would  render  Erie  at  once  the  real  rival  of  the 
Central  for  through  business  between  New  England  and  the 
Western  States,  and  would  afford  the  coal  interests  of  North- 
ern Pennsylvania  direct  communication  with  the  Eastern 
markets.  Fisk  and  Gould  determined  to  secure  control  of 
the  new  road.  They  struck  hands  with  the  anti-Ramsey 
Directors,  and  the  war  began.  In  a  very  interesting  article 
from  the  pen  of  the  Hon.  Jerry  S.  Black,  Attorney-General 
under  President  Buchanan,  the  full  history  of  the  war  is 
given.  It  is  condensed  from  the  March  number  of  the 
Galaxy,  a  wide-awake  magazine  for  the  times,  and  herewith 
reproduced  : 

*'  In  the  years  1869  and  1870  there  occurred  a  contest  for 
the  control  of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  which, 
in  some  of  its  features,  is  among  the  most  remarkable  that 


204  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

this  generation  has  known.  It  concerned  vast  material 
interests,  and,  from  peculiar  circumstances,  engaged  an 
amount  of  public  attention  not  often  bestowed  on  such  sub- 
jects. It  produced  a  long  series  of  litigations,  angry,  com- 
plicated, and  multifarious.  The  judicial  authorities  v/ere 
wholly  unequal  to  the  task  of  setthng  the  dispute ;  for,  in- 
stead of  composing  the  strife,  their  intervention  only  inten- 
sified it,  until  at  last  the  parties,  mutually  scared  by  the 
cross-fire  of  conflicting  injunctions  which  the  courts  were 
launching  at  all  alike,  sought  relief  in  the  more  peaceful  arbi- 
tration of  pike  and  gun.  When  this  was  stopped  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive, the  newspapers  took  up  the  war,  and,  going  over 
the  whole  ground  again,  they  not  only  canvassed  the  rights 
and  wrongs  of  the  parties,  but  assailed  counsel  and  judges 
with  most  unlimited  censure.     .     .     . 

"  Mr.  Adams*  is  an  hereditary  bondsman  to  the  truth  ;  by 
his  blood  and  birth  he  owes  service  to  the  right,  and  if  he 
'flies  from  it  we  have  a  warrant  to  reclaim  him  as  a  fugitive. 
We  do  not  believe  that  he  would  lend  the  authority  of  his 
great  historical  name  to  a  willful  misstatement,  or  that  he 
would  even  take  up  an  evil  report  against  his  neighbor  and 
help  to  propagate  it  for  the  mere  purpose  of  gratifying  any- 
body's malevolence.  But  his  intense  dislike  of  James  Fisk,  Jr., 
seems  to  have  unbalanced  his  judgment  upon  every  subject 
with  which  Fisk  has  the  remotest  connection.  This  is  the 
one  masterless  passion  which  sways  him  in  all  the  moods  and 
tenses  of  his  thought.  Fisk  is  his  dete  noir.  His  enmity  to 
Fisk  is  extended  not  merely  to  Jay  Gould,  Fisk's  partner  in 
business,  but  it  embraces  all  Fisk's  associates  in  the  manage- 

*  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  who  had  written  "Chapters  of  Erie,"  taking 
ground  against  the  Directors  of  that  Company.  Mr.  Black's  article  is  largely 
taken  up  with  a  criticism  on  the  essays. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  P  205 

mcnt  of  the  Eric  Railroad,  and  takes  in  every  lawyer  who  has 
ever  defended  his  rights  and  every  judge  who  has  ever  al- 
lowed him  to  use  the  legal  process  of  his  court.  The  moral 
sense  of  Mr.  Adams  has  been  offended,  perhaps  ver}-  justly, 
by  something  he  has  seen  in  Fisk's  conduct  or  character; 
and  his  indignation  has  become  so  preternaturally  excited 
that  he  likes  or  loathes  all  other  men  as  they  happen  to  be 
for  Fisk  or  against  him  in  any  of  his  contests  whether  right 
or  wrong.     .     .     . 

"  It  was  not  necessary  for  Mr.  Curtis*  to  tell  us  that  he 
had  no  personal  knowledge  ot,  or  association  with  Mr.  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  or  his  partner  Jay  Gould.  Nobody  would  have 
suspected  that  grave  and  learned  gentleman  of  any  close 
companionship  with  a  man  so  outrt^,  irregular,  and  eccentric 
in  his  tastes  and  habits  as  Mr.  Fisk.  If  ignorance  of  Fisk 
and  all  that  Fisk  inherits  be  a  virtue,  then  we  can  claim  to  be 
as  virtuous  as  anybody.  But  we  make  no  pretensions  what- 
ever to  that  outrageous  and  extravagant  righteousness  which 
prompts  Mr.  Adams  not  only  to  denounce  Fisk  himself,  but  to 
assail  every  man  that  does  him  justice,  and  heap  laudations  with- 
out measure  on  all  who  try  to  swindle  him  or  his  associates. 

"  Most  of  our  readers  will  altogether  fail  to  understand 
the  merits  of  the  controversy  or  the  incidents  which  attended 
it,  unless  they  make  themselves  acquainted,  at  least  to  some 
little  extent,  with  the  singularities  of  Ne^¥•  York  jurisprudence, 
produced  partly  by  what  is  called  a  reform  in  the  Code  of 
Procedure,  and  partly  by  a  most  anomalous  and  extraordi- 
nary organization  of  the  judicial  system.  A  moment's  atten- 
tion to  this  will  explain  our  meaning,  and  show  that  the  con- 
fusion, misapprehension,   and   total  failure    of  justice   which 

*  George  Ticknor  Curtis,  auilior  of  "  An  Inquiry  into  the  Albany  and  Sus- 
cuclianna  Litiijation   etc" 


2o6  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

took  place  in  these  cases,  while  they  could  not  possibly  have 
happened  in  any  other  country,  could  scarcely  have  been 
avoided  in  New  York.     .     .     . 

"  In  New  York  the  revolutionary  party  did  itself  honor  by 
accepting  the  leadership  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished 
jurists  of  the  State.  A  full  Code,  as  comprehensive  as  that 
of  Napoleon,  and  as  minute  in  its  details  as  that  of  Living- 
ston, was  the  work  of  their  hands.  They  laid  it  at  the  feet 
of  the  Legislature,  and  that  body  adopted  the  Code  of  Pro- 
cedure, but  rejected  all  else  that  was  proposed.  They  put 
into  operation  just  enough  of  it  to  abolish  the  distinction 
between  law  and  equity,  without  preventing  the  possible 
abuses  of  either ;  to  confound  all  remedies  by  mixing  them 
together  and  making  one  form  of  action  serve  against  every 
species  of  wrong ;  and  to  banish  every  trace  of  science  from 
pleading.  What  might  have  been  the  success  of  this  empiri- 
cal raid  on  the  Common  Law  if  the  whole  Code  had  been 
adopted,  it  is  impossible  to  say  ;  but  the  experiment  as  actu- 
ally made  is  not  merely  a  failure— it  is  a  disastrous  visitation 
upon  the  people  of  the  State.  Instead  of  the  cheapness,  cer- 
tainty, and  promptness  which  the  reformers  no  doubt  in- 
tended to  promote,  the  unlucky  suitor  is  vexed  with  endless 
delay,  impoverished  by  enormous  costs,  and  at  every  turn  is 
liable  to  be  tricked  and  deluded  to  his  ruin.  The  new  Code 
encourages  ignorance,  rapacity,  and  fraud,  by  inviting  every- 
body to  practice  it  who  cannot  live  at  any  other  trade,  and 
gives  a  large  share  in  the  administration  of  justice  to  a  class 
of  men  for  whom  the  English  language  had  no  name  until  a 
new  epithet  of  contempt  was  added  to  the  vocabulary.  .  . 
"  But  under  the  Code,  the  wall  of  partition  between  law  and 
equity  is  completely  broken  down  ;  the  law  judges  are  all 
chancellors,  and,  vice  versa,  all  chancellors  are  law  judges, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  20/ 

and  they  administer  both  equity  and  law  in  forms  so  exactly 
alike  that  the  judges  themselves  do  not  know,  and  are  not 
bound  to  know,  which  is  which.  There  is,  therefore,  no 
possible  excuse  for  employing  more  than  one  tribunal  in  the 
same  cause.  Nevertheless,  the  frequent  and  allowed  practice 
is,  for  the  defendant,  instead  of  answering  a  complaint,  to  file 
a  counter  complaint  against  his  adversary.  An  injunction  is 
the  favorite  weapon  in  all  contests.  Its  simplicity  commends 
it  to  the  professional  mind,  as  the  simplicity  of  the  knout 
and  the  bastinado  makes  them  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Mus- 
covite and  the  Turk.  It  can  always  be  got  for  the  asking,  if 
the  request  be  accompanied  with  an  affidavit  that  somebody 
wants  it  '  to  the  best  of  his  information  and  belief.'  It  is 
granted  of  course,  ex  dcbito  jiistitics,  without  examination 
and  without  notice  to  the  opposite  part}^ ;  it  is  granted  pri- 
vately ;  it  is  not  put  on  record  ;  it  is  not  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  public  officer  to  be  served  or  executed,  but  the  judge 
gives  it  to  the  complainant  himself  or  his  attorney,  who 
keeps  it  a  secret  if  he  pleases,  until  he  catches  his  victim  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  then  springs  it  upon  him  from  his  pocket. 
Unfortunately,  however,  this  is  a  game  that  two  or  a  dozen 
can  play  at  as  well  as  one.  The  party  enjoined  by  one  judge 
can  go  to  another  judge,  equally  facile,  and  get  an  injunction 
against  his  adversar}',  commanding  that  the  order  of  the  first 
shall  be  disobeyed.  Or  a  third  person  may  seek  a  third 
judge,  who  will  readily  throw  his  force  against  either  or 
both.  There  are  thirty-three  judges  in  the  State,  of  equal 
grade  and  coordinate  power,  elected  in  eight  districts,  and 
residing  in  different  regions,  to  whose  jurisdiction  there  are 
no  territorial  limits  except  the  lines  of  the  State.  Each  one 
of  these  claims  the  right,  and  exercises  it,  of  enjoining 
whom  he  pleases,  without  regard  to  the  cognizance  which 


208  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

may  have  been  previously  taken  of  the  subject  or  the  par- 
ties by  one  or  more  of  his  brethren  ;  and  his  process,  orders, 
or  decrees  are  equally  potential  in  every  part  of  the  State. 
A  man  enjoined  by  a  judge  in  New  York  city  to  do  a  thing 
may  be  ordered  by  a  Buffalo  judge  7iot  to  do  it ;  and  a  Brook- 
lyn judge  who  has  commanded  one  of  his  constituents  to 
refrain  from  a  particular  act,  may  be  met  the  next  day  by  a 
counter  order  from  Rochester  in  which  the  same  party  is  sol- 
emnly directed  to  refrain  from  refraining.  These  injunctions 
are  not  mere  briitum  fulmcn  ;  the  judicial  guns  on  either  side 
are  loaded  to  the  muzzle  with  the  heaviest  metal  they  can 
ram  down.  Each  judge  demands  implicit  obedience  to  his 
own  order,  and  the  penalty  of  disobedience  cannot  be  es- 
capefi  by  showing  that  the  parties  are  under  conflicting 
orders  from  another  quarter ;  for  the  learned  magistrates 
who  administer  the  Code  act  on  the  principle  of  that  ultra 
democracy  which  insists  that  one  man  is  not  only  as  good  as 
another,  but  a  great  deal  better.  It  happens  thus  that,  in  a 
case  involving  numerous  and  complicated  interests  of  great 
value,  all  persons  concerned  get  hemmed  in  with  injunctions 
from  various  parts  of  the  State,  commanding  them,  by  au- 
thority which  they  dare  not  question,  to  do  everything,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  do  nothing.  They  can  neither  move  nor 
stand  still  without  incurring  a  penalty  somewhat  hke  that  of 
outlawry  in  feudal  times.  Their  cause  may  be  pending  in  a 
score  of  courts  at  once ;  a  party  who  prosecutes  or  defends 
in  any  one  of  them  is  guilty  of  contempt,  and  if  he  fails,  a 
decree  is  pronounced  against  him  by  default.  His  condition 
is  like  that  ascribed  by  Lorenzo  Dow  to  a  predestined  repro- 
bate under  the  creed  of  Calvin  : 

You  shall  and  you  shan't — you  will  and  you  won't; 

You're  condemned  if  you  do,  and  you're  cursed  if  you  don't. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  209 

"  When  all  the  parties  are  bound  hand  and  foot,  so  that 
j'ustice,  or  even  an  investigation  in  the  courts,  has  become 
a  thing  of  impossible  attainment,  the  case  is  considered 
about  ready  for  trial  in  the  newspapers,  where  the  suitors, 
the  counsel  and  the  judges,  are  plastered  with  praise  or  cov- 
ered with  odious  imputations,  according  to  the  various 
interests  and  tastes  of  those  who  engage  in  the  discussion. 
We  venture,  though  with  some  diffidence,  to  pronounce  this 
rather  a  poor  substitute  for  the  trial  by  battle  which  would 
have  been  accorded  in  the  Middle  Ages.  So  thought  the 
parties  in  the  Susquehanna  and  Albany  suits ;  for  they  actually 
loosened  the  deadlock  of  the  courts  by  physical  force.  It  is 
true  that  the  champions  did  not  go  out  on  the  open  plain, 
and,  after  taking  an  oath  against  witchcraft,  beat  each  other 
with  sand-bags  to  show  whose  cause  was  holiest  in  the  sight 
of  God  ;  but  they  did  try  whose  judges  had  made  the  most 
righteous  injunctions  by  rushing  against  one  another  with 
colliding  locomotives. 

"  It  is  due  to  the  framers  and  original  supporters  of  the  Code 
to  say  that  they  never  contemplated  the  frightful  perversions 
which  it  has  been  made  to  undergo,  nor  are  they  at  all 
responsible  for  the  absurd  arrangement  of  the  judicial 
department  which  causes  these  scandalous  conflicts  of 
jurisdiction. 

"  We  devoutly  believe  that  a  fair  consideration  of  the  Al- 
bany and  Susquehanna  Htigations  will  throw  the  blame  of 
them  on  shoulders  which  have  heretofore  not  borne  their 
proper  share.  We  will  briefly  present  tl:e  most  important 
of  the  facts  pertaining  to  this  cause  cclcbrc,  and  leave  the 
public  to  judge  whether  the  attacks  on  the  long-established 
fame  of  Mr.  Field  and  his  patrons  have  any  foundation  in 
truth.     The  same  public  may  determine,  if  it  can,  '  by  what 


2IO  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

conjuration  and  most  mighty  magic '  the  Ramsey  party  have 
managed  to  invest  their  leader  with  the  reputation  of  a  per- 
secuted saint.  If  we  happen  to  have  any  readers  who  feel 
an  interest  in  the  most  important  of  all  worldly  concerns — 
the  distribution  of  justice  among  the  people  of  a  great  State 
— some  of  them  ma}^  be  led  to  inquire  if  the  system  of  judi- 
cial procedure,  which  produces  such  intolerable  evils,  cannot 
be  amended,  or,  if  change  be  impossible,  what  amount  of 
passive  fortitude  is  required  to  bear  it  as  it  is  ; 

How  end  this  dire  calamity  ; 
What  reinforcement  may  be  gained  from  hope  ; 
If  not,  what  resolution  from  despair, 

"  The  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railway  Company  was  in- 
corporated in  1852,  and  began  v/ork  in  1853,  but  the  line  was 
not  opened  for  traffic  until  January,  1869.  It  stretches  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Bingham  ton, 
where  it  connects  with  the  Eric,  to  Albany,  whence  its 
freights  may  be  carried  by  direct  routes  to  divers  parts  of 
New  England.  The  Erie  had  previously  sent  its  branches 
into  the  anthracite  deposits  of  Pennsylvania,  and  needed  the 
use  of  the  i\lbany  and  Susquehanna  as  a  means  of  getting 
the  coal  it  brought  to  Binghamton  as  far  as  Albany  on  its 
way  to  the  New  England  market ;  and  it  was,  of  course,  the 
interest  of  the  new  road  to  take  all  the  business  it  could  get 
in  that  way.  Its  track  had  been  laid  on  the  exceptional 
broad-gauge  of  the  Erie,  which  shows  that  its  projectors  had, 
from  the  beginning,  contemplated  that  it  would  support  and 
be  supported  by  that  line.  It  would,  undoubtcdl}^  have 
been  improper  for  the  great  company  to  take  control  of  the 
smaller  one,  or  to  appropriate  its  earnings ;  but  their  geogra- 
phical relations,  the  similarit)'  of  their  structure,  their  duty 
to  the  public,  and  the  mutual  interests  of  their  proprietors, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  211 

all  required  a  cordial  cooperation  in  business.  Nevertheless, 
there  was  no  special  arrangement  to  that  end,  and  no  propo- 
sition to  make  one,  until  the  stockholders  of  the  Albany  and 
Susquehanna  solicited  the  aid  of  the  Erie  to  rid  them  of  the 
dangerous  dishonesty  which  had  crept  into  the  management 
of  their  own  internal  affairs. 

"  It  was  the  great  misfortune  of  the  Albany  and  Susque- 
hanna corporation  to  have  trusted  one  Joseph  II.  Ramsey  as 
its  President  and  financial  manager.  lie  did  not  prove  him- 
self faithful.  The  bargains  by  which  he  raised  money  at 
usurious  rates  were  not  only  disapproved  b}-  his  constituents  ; 
they  were  indefensible  on  the  score  of  common  prudence. 
When  his  own  interests  were  in  conflict  with  the  duties  of 
his  trust,  he  showed  a  lack  of  qualities  even  more  important 
than  sound  judgment.  He  paid  himself,  on  one  occasion, 
Oi6,ooo,  for  services  which  he  alleged  he  had  rendered  the 
company  as  its  attorney.  He  made  the  bill  and  settled  it, 
absolutely  refusing  to  let  the  Finance  Committee  pass  upon 
it.  He  made  a  contract  on  behalf  of  his  corporation  with  an 
express  company,  in  which  he  ruinously  sacrificed  the  in- 
terests of  the  party  he  professed  to  represent;  it  turned  out 
afterward  that  he  was  a  partner  in  the  express  company. 
Mr.  Adams  has  proudly  claimed  for  him,  as  a  great  merit, 
that  he  went  to  the  Legislature  '  in  behalf  of  the  enterprise.' 
Of  such  are  the  Albany  rings.  He  ran  for  Congress  once, 
and  while  he  was  a  candidate  he  issued  three  thousand  free 
passes  over  the  road  to  as  many  electors,  whose  favor  he 
sought  to  win  at  the  expense  of  the  company.  At  the  time 
of  his  suspension  from  office,  he  owed  the  company  $20,000, 
which  he  had  taken  from  its  funds  for  his  own  purposes,  on 
his  own  terms,  and  by  his  own  leave.  Whether  he  subse- 
quently disgorged  this  money,  does  not  appear. 


212  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  It  was  manifest  to  the  stockholders  that  these  practices 
could  not  be  continued  without  ruin  to  their  prosperity,  and 
infamy  to  the  character  of  their  corporation  ;  and  they  deter- 
mined to  stop  them.  But,  like  many  other  reformers,  they 
committed  the  fatal  mistake  of  adopting  half-way  measures. 
Instead  of  turning  Ramsey  out  neck  and  heels,  they  reelected 
him  ;  but,  by  a  very  decided  vote,  chose  a  majority  of  Direc- 
tors, strong  enough  as  they  thought,  and  true  enough,  to 
control  his  action  and  compel  him  to  be  honest.  Seeing 
their  forbearance,  and  probably  mistaking  it  for  timidity,  he 
was  hardy  enough  to  tell  them  to  their  faces  that  he  would 
permit  no  such  oversight  of  his  conduct  as  they  proposed  ; 
that  he  would  not  belong  to  a  divided  direction ;  that  at  the 
next  election  either  he  or  his  opponents  must  go  out.  The 
stockholders  accepted  the  issue  thus  tendered  to  them,  and 
to  maintain  that  issue  was  the  object  of  all  their  subse- 
quent struggles.  Thus  the  corporators  were  hopelessly 
divided  into  two  hostile  factions.  One  of  them,  known 
through  the  legal  proceedings  as  the  Church  party,  and 
holding  a  large  majority  of  the  stock,  was  bent  on  having 
officers  whose  fidelity  they  could  trust ;  and  the  other,  led 
by  Ramsey,  wished  to  subordinate  all  the  interests  of  the 
company  severely  and  constantly  to  his  own. 

"  The  next  election  was  to  take  place  in  September,  1869, 
and  the  parties  began  without  delay  to  look  around  them  for 
the  material  of  the  contest.  The  authorized  capital  of  the 
company  was  $4,000,000,  divided  into  40,000  shares  of  |ioo 
each.  Of  these  40,000  shares  17,238  were  outstanding  in  the 
hands  of  l>o?ta  fide  holders,  who  had  paid  full  price  for  them, 
and  whose  right  to  vote  on  them  could  not  be  disputed.  The 
Church  party  were  thoroughly  satisfied  that  they  and  others 
opposed  to  the  existing  management  held  a  clear  majority 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  213 

of  the  legal  and  honest  shares.  On  the  other  hand,  Ramsey 
was  not  without  expedients  by  which  he  hoped  to  win. 
About  2,400  shares  had  been  forfeited  by  the  failure  of  the 
original  subscribers  to  pay  for  them.  These  were  re-issued 
by  Ramsey  to  one  David  Groesbeck  for  twenty-five  cents  on 
the  dollar,  in  direct  violation  of  a  general  law  which  forbade 
any  railroad  company  to  sell  its  stock  for  less  than  par. 
Groesbeck  was  not  only  unscrupulous  enough  to  become  a 
party  to  this  fraudulent  over-issue,  by  which  the  honest  stock 
would  be  watered,  but  he  was  entirel}^  willing  to  vote  it  as 
Ramsey,  his  partner  in  the  fraud,  might  desire.  When  the 
latter  gentleman  discovered  that  he  could  not  balance  the 
real  stockholders  in  that  way,  he  resorted  to  another  trick, 
which  was,  if  possible,  baser  as  well  as  bolder.  He  got  to- 
gether certain  of  his  confederates  secretly  at  his  own  house, 
and  distributed  among  them  certificates  for  9,500  shares  of 
stock,  for  which  they  had  not  paid,  and  did  not  mean  to  pay, 
a  single  cent.  It  was  necessary  that  something  should  ap- 
pear to  have  been  paid,  but  the  recipients  of  the  shares  could 
not  or  would  not  furnish  any  money  for  that  purpose.  Ram- 
sey himself  had  no  cash  of  his  own  to  advance,  but  he  went 
to  the  company's  safe,  of  which  he  had  the  key,  took  out 
bonds,  the  property  of  the  company,  amounting  to  $150,000, 
pawned  them  to  the  same  Groesbeck  who  had  taken  his 
former  over-issue,  and  thus  raised  enough  to  pay  ten  per 
cent,  on  the  9,500  shares.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  a  trans- 
action more  thoroughly  iniquitous  than  this.  It  was  a 
double  fraud  ;  it  was  intended  to  stuff  the  ballot-box  with 
bogus  votes,  and  make  the  stockholders  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  cheat  upon  themselves  out  of  their  own  funds.  That  it 
might  want  no  aggravating  circumstance,  it  was  planned 
and  executed  by  a  trustee  whose  solemn  duty  it  was,  in  law 


214  LIF^  ^^^   TIMES   OF 

and  conscience,  to  protect  and  defend  the  rights  of  the  in- 
jured parties  against  the  knavery  of  others — not  make  them 
the  victims  of  his  own. 

"  In  the  meantime,  the  Church  party,  not  knowing  of  these 
things,  and  unable  to  foresee  what  Ramsey  might  do,  thought 
it  prudent  to  reinforce  themselves  by  getting  as  many  of  the 
di^na  fide  shares  into  their  hands  as  possible,  and  thus  make 
their  majority  large  enough  to  balance  any  fraud  which  he 
could  carry  out.  A  considerable  amount  of  the  stock  was 
held  by  towns  along  the  line  of  the  road,  and  it  could  not  be 
got  for  less  than  par.  In  these  circumstances,  they  applied  to 
the  Erie  managers  for  assistance,  in  money,  to  buy  the  shares 
which  might  be  needed.  The  request  was  acceeded  to. 
There  was  no  lawless  intrusion  of  Erie,  or  of  Fisk  and  Gould, 
into  the  affairs  of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna ;  no  volun- 
teering in  the  dispute  between  Ramsey  and  his  constituents ; 
no  compact  for  any  undue  share  in  the  control  of  the  road. 
The  men  of  the  Church  party  desired  to  save  their  corpora- 
tion alive  out  of  the  hands  of  Ramsey,  and  the  Erie  managers 
knew,  that  by  assisting  them,  they  would  promote  the  true  in- 
terests of  every  honest  stockholder  in  both  companies.  Where 
motives  so  fair,  and  wise,  and  obvious,  exist,  for  one  party  to 
make,  and  the  other  to  accept,  a  business  proposition,  it  is 
not  necessary,  but  it  is  shameful,  to  allege  corruptions  which 
there  is  nothing  to  prove,  or  even  to  suggest. 

"  When  the  assistance  of  the  Erie  men  was  assured  to  them, 
David  Wilber  and  others,  of  the  Church  party,  proceeded, 
by  the  authority  of  Mr.  Gould,  and  with  money  furnished  by 
him,  to  buy  Albany  and  Susquehanna  stock  wherever  they 
could  get  it;  and  they  secured  a  considerable  number  of 
shares,  mainly  from  the  towns,  paying  full  price  for  them. 
By  the  3rd  of  August,  the  Church  party,  and  the  friends  of 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  21  5 

the  company  who  acted  with  them,  had  11,400  shares  of  the 
undisputed  stock,  leaving  only  6,139  i"  other  hands.  Assum- 
ing that  Ramsey  might  get  all  these,  he  must  be  beaten 
nearly  two  to  one.  Even  if  his  friend  and  fcllow-sinncr, 
Groesbcck,  should  vote  the  2,400  fraudulent  shares  held  by 
him,  the  Church  men  would  still  have  a  maj'ority  of  2,864. 
Judge  Barnard,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Bush,  a  member  of  the 
Church  party,  put  Groesbeck  hors  de  combat  by  an  injunction 
which  commanded  him  to  deliver  up  his  stock  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  W.  J.  A.  Fuller,  who  was  appointed  to  hold  it  as  re- 
ceiver, so  that  Groesbeck  could  not  vote  it  unless  he  would 
come  forward  and  show  that  he  had  a  title,  which,  of  course, 
he  did  not  attempt  to  do,  knowing  very  well  that  he  could 
not.  The  9,500  false  shares  mentioned  above  had  not  yet 
been  fabricated,  nor  had  the  corporation  safe  been  robbed  to 
pay  for  them  at  the  time  we  now  speak  of. 

"  Ramsey  did  not  confine  his  operations  to  mere  aggressive 
frauds  upon  his  constituents;  he  was  a  master  of  defense  as 
well  as  offense.  *  Fitz  James's  blade  was  sword  and  shield.' 
When  he  saw  the  heavy  purchases  his  opponents  were  mak- 
ing, he  instantly  directed  the  Treasurer  to  make  no  more 
transfers  upon  the  books  of  the  company  to  the  Church 
party.  Accordingly,  Phelps,  the  Treasurer,  refused  to  make 
official  note  of  the  transfer  from  the  town  of  Oneonta,  al- 
though there  was  no  appearance  of  illegality  about  the  sale, 
and  the  commissioners  were  personally  present  to  affirm  its 
perfect  regularit}'. 

"  To  strengthen  himself  in  his  false  position,  he  got  an  Al- 
bany judge  to  make  an  injunction  forbidding  the  transfer. 
This  was,  and  could  be,  nothing  but  a  mere  sham.  It  was  in 
effect,  though  not  in  form,  a  suit  by  himself  against  himself,  to 
jrestrain  himself  from  performing  a  duty  which  he  had  pre- 


2l6  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

determined  not  to  do  anyhow.  The  Church  party  not  only 
got  his  Albany  injunction  dissolved,  but  fulminated  another 
upon  him  from  New  York,  which  commanded  him  to  refrain 
from  his  refusal  to  make  the  transfer. 

"  But  Ramsey  defeated  the  object  of  this  last  injunction, 
by  an  outrage  which  has  no  parallel  even  in  the  history  of 
his  own  iniquities.  He  furtively  took  the  books  of  the  com- 
pany, carried  them  away,  and  hid  them,  part  of  the  time  in  a 
tomb  in  the  Albany  grave-yard,  and  part  of  the  time  in  other 
lonely  places,  v.-here  they  were  beyond  the  reach  of  judicial 
process,  out  of  the  stockholders'  sight  or  knowledge,  and  ac- 
cessible only  to  himself  and  a  few  of  his  trusted  accomplices. 
By  this  conveyance,  as  Pistol  would  call  it,  of  the  record,  he 
not  only  prevented  all  transfers  to  bo)m  fide  purchasers,  but 
put  it  into  his  power  to  fabricate,  without  detection,  as  much 
bogus  stock  as  he  might  need  for  his  own  purposes.  In 
point  of  fact,  it  was  on  the  same  night  signalized  by  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  books  that  he  manufactured  the  9,500 
shares,  which  he  pretended  to  pay  for  with  the  proceeds  of 
the  company's  bonds. 

"  It  was  very  plain  by  this  time  that  the  stockholders 
needed  the  help  of  judicial  authority  to  save  their  rights 
from  the  most  atrocious  violation ;  and  it  will  be  seen  here- 
after that  judicial  authority,  as  administered  in  New  York, 
was  very  far  from  being  effective  to  that  end.  However,  the 
war  of  injunctions  had  already  commenced.  The  next  gun 
was  a  heavy  one.  It  was  an  order  obtained  ex  parte  from 
Judge  Barnard,  in  New  York  City,  suspending  Ramsey  from 
office,  and  restraining  tlie  issue  of  any  more  stock,  unless 
under  a  resolution  of  the  Directors,  after  public  notice,  and 
upon  payment  of  its  par  value.  This  order  was  made  at  the 
instance  of  David  VVilbcr,  a  stockholder,  a  director,  and  an 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  219 

active  supporter  of  the  Church  party.  The  complaint 
charged  Ramsey  (and,  no  doubt,  charged  him  truly)  with 
divers  misdemeanors,  which  showed  that  he  was  wholly  un- 
fit for  his  trust,  or  indeed  for  any  other.  The  proceeding 
was  justifiable  in  this  particular  case,  not  only  because  the 
law  allowed  it  and  the  Court  awarded  it,  but  because  the 
special  end  it  aimed  at  was  just  and  proper. 

"  But  it  is  not  easy  to  defend  on  general  principles  the  wis- 
dom of  the  law  which  permits  even  a  guilty  man  to  be 
scourged  before  he  is  condemned.  It  is  true  that  Ramsey 
was  oflfered  a  chance  of  being  heard  in  his  own  defense  after 
he  was  deposed  ;  but  this  reverses  the  inflexible  rule  of  the 
Common  Law,  which  in  all  cases  and  under  all  circumstances 
requires  the  hearing  to  precede  the  punishment.  Indeed,  the 
New  York  Code  has  in  this  respect  but  one  example  to  keep 
it  in  countenafnce,  and  that  is  found  in  the  hard  ruling  (ac- 
cording to  Virgil's  report)  of  the  judge  who  presided  in  what 
may  literally  be  called  '  the  court  below :' 

Gnosiiis  hie  Rhadamanthus  habct  durissima  regna, 
Castigatque,  auditquc  dolos,  subigitque  fateri. 

"Sir  Edward  Coke,  quoting  these  lines,  says:  'The  philo- 
sophic poet  doth  notably  describe  the  damnable  and  damned 
proceedings  of  the  Judge  of  Hell.  First  he  punisheth,  and 
then  he  heareth,  and,  lastly,  he  compelleth  to  confess.  But 
good  judges  and  justices  abhor  these  courses.' 

"  Ramsey  and  his  advisers  not  only  learned  the  lesson  their 
opponents  taught  them,  but  they  bettered  the  instructions. 
They  were  quick  enough  to  see  that,  under  a  law  which 
struck  without  hearing,  a  false  accusation  was  just  as  good 
as  a  true  one.  Ramsey,  therefore,  did  not  close  his  eyes  to 
sleep  before  he  trumped  up  a  series  of  charges  against  Mr. 
13 


220  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Herrick,  the  Vice-President,  and  four  of  the  Directors,  that 
they  were  in  a  conspiracy  with  the  Managers  of  Erie,  for  a 
surrender  of  their  hne  to  that  corporation,  which  was  cor- 
ruptly managed  by  Gould,  Fisk,  and  others,  for  their  private 
ends.  On  this  complaint,  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  at 
Albany  promptly,  and  without  the  least  hesitation  or  demur, 
granted  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  Vice-President  and 
Directors  from  exercising  their  functions.  This  swept  the 
board  clean,  and  left  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railway 
Company,  with  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property,  in  a 
most  critical  situation,  and  without  a  soul  who  could  legally 
take  charge  of  it. 

"  The  judges  of  New  York  Avere  as  rapid  in  their  move- 
ments as  the  old  courts  of  Pie  Poudre.*  Ramsey  got  his 
injunction  to  stop  transfers  on  the  2d  of  August.  On  the  3d 
he  was  enjoined  to  make  the  transfers.  On  the  4th  Wilber's 
injunction  deposed  him  ;  he  was  notified  of  it  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  5th,  and  on  that  same  day  he  made  his  counter 
complaint;  in  the  course  of  the  night  he  carried  off  the 
books  and  fabricated  the  false  stock ;  on  the  next  morning 
he  served  his  order  upon  the  Vice-President,  and  the  corpo- 
ration was  broken  to  fragments. 

"  Thus  far  Ramsey  was  the  winner.  With  the  records  of 
the  corporation  in  his  exclusive  possession,  a  treasurer  at  his 
elbow,  to  whom  his  word  was  law,  and  numerous  active 
confederates  to  do  his  bidding,  he  was  master  of  the  situa- 
tion. To  be  sure,  his  enemies  had  deposed  him,  but  he  had 
also  deposed  them,  and  put  their  property  in  peril  of  extreme 
and  ruinous  loss  ;  '  which,  if  not  victory,  was  at  least  re- 
venge.' 

*  "  An  ancient  Court  of  Record  in  England,  incident  to  every  fair  and  mar- 
ket, of  which  the  steward  of  him  who  owns  or  has  the  toll  is  the  judge.  It  has 
now  fallen  into  disuse." — JSlackstone      French,  Picd-potidrcu.x,  dusty  foot. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  221 

"  Things  had  come  to  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  Company 
where  the  stockholders  could  do  but  one  thing-,  and  that  was 
to  have  receivers  appointed  who  would  keep  the  road  run- 
ning until  its  regular  management  could  somehow  be  re- 
stored. The  Church  part}^  who  owned  by  far  the  larger 
part  of  the  stock,  and  who  had  paid  not  only  fair  but  high 
prices  for  it,  could  not  look  upon  their  condition  with  calm 
indifference.  They  were  constrained  to  act  promptly.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  August,  they  applied 
to  Judge  Barnard,  and  got  him  to  appoint  two  receivers, 
Charles  Courter  and  James  Fisk,  Jr.  The  appointment  of 
Mr.  Fisk  provoked  a  torrent  of  vituperation.  It  has  been 
considered  a  sufficient  reason  for  charging  the  judge,  the 
counsel,  and  all  others  concerned  in  it,  with  gross  corrup- 
tion. Without  stopping  to  inquire  whether  Mr.  Fisk  was 
or  was  not  as  proper  a  person  as  any  other  for  such  a  trust, 
we  note  two  facts  which  should  stop  this  outburst  of  calum- 
nious accusation.  In  the  first  place,  the  authority  given  the 
receivers  was  joint,  and  Fisk  could  do  no  act,  good,  bad,  or 
indifferent,  without  the  approbation  of  his  colleague,  who 
was  and  is  a  gentleman  not  only  of  very  large  estate,  but  of 
most  unblemished  character;  and  secondly,  the  appointment 
was  made  with  the  consent,  expressed  in  writing,  of  seven 
Directors  representing  an  undoubted  majority  of  the  stock- 
holders. The  order  was  privately  signed  by  the  judge,  after 
the  manner  of  New  York  judges ;  but  if  this  was  law  and 
custom  in  all  cases,  as  it  undoubtedly  was,  why  should  there 
be  an  outcry  about  the  observance  of  it  on  this  occasion? 
It  becomes  especially  absurd  when  we  find  that  another 
judge,  acting  in  Ramsey's  interest  and  at  his  request,  was 
doing  the  very  same  thing  at  Albany  on  the  same  night  and 
at  about  the  same  hour. 


222  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"  Yes,  Ramsey  had  countermined  the  Church  party  again. 
Before  Messrs.  Courter  and  Fisk  could  reach  Albany  with 
Judge  Barnard's  warrant  to  take  possession  of  the  trust, 
Judge  Peckham  had  privately,  in  the  office  of  his  son,  in- 
vested a  Mr.  Pruyn  with  the  same  powers,  and  Mr.  Pruyn 
had  possession  of  the  Company's  office  and  the  road  at  that 
end  of  it.  Messrs.  Courter  and  Fisk,  by  their  agents,  got 
hold  of  the  Binghamton  end,  and  that  was  all  they  could  do. 
This  brought  the  parties  to  close  quarters.  The  conflict 
between  opposing  receivers,  holding  their  authority  from 
courts  of  equal  jurisdiction,  and  acting  under  irreconcilable 
orders  which  each  party  claimed  to  be  of  superior  obliga- 
tion, presented  in  a  practical  shape  the  ancient  problem  of 
an  immovable  body  encountered  by  an  irresistible  force. 
Judge  Peckham 's  receiver  determined  to  hold  fast,  and  the 
magistrate  who  made  him  did  not  suffer  him  to  languish  for 
lack  of  helpful  prpcess  and  reinforcing  decrees.  Judge  Bar- 
nard, not  to  be  behind  his  brother  Peckham  in  pluck  and 
energy,  provided  his  receivers  with  writs  of  assistance  and 
all  the  other  weapons  they  asked  for  out  of  his  judicial  arse- 
nal. Everybody  was  in  contempt,  and  everybody  was  in 
default.  The  sheriff,  whose  duty  it  was  to  execute  the  con- 
flicting orders  was  utterly  bewildered.  He  was  required  to 
call  out  \hQ  posse  comitates  to  support  each  party  against  the 
other.  He  could  not  perform  the  functions  of  his  office  un- 
less he  would  '  divide  himself  and  go  to  buffets  with  the 
pieces.'  A  great  battle  was  impending,  and  as  the  sheriff 
with  his  power  of  the  coimty  was  to  be  on  both  sides,  the  re- 
sult could  not  possibly  be  foretold.  Hostile  bodies  of  work- 
men were  drawn  out,  armed  with  pistols  and  bludgeons, 
and  locomotives  got  up  steam  and  ran  into  one  another. 
The  scene   would  be  an  odd  one  in  any  civilized  country 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  223 

outside  of  the  State  where  it  occurred  ;  for  all  parties  were 
fighting  under  the  ensign  of  public  authorityi  It  was  judi- 
cial power  subverting  order  and  breaking  the  peace  ;  it  was 
law  on  a  rampage  ;  it  was  justice  bedevilled  ;  in  one  word,  it 
was  the  New  York  Code  in  full  operation. 

"  The  Governor,  it  seems,  had  been  watching  the  current 
of  this  heady  fight;  he  thought  it  might  be  his  duty  to  in- 
terpose the  militia  between  the  combatants,  and  conquer  a 
peace  by  making  a  war  upon  both  of  them.  The  opposing 
receivers,  '  to  stop  the  effusion  of  blood,'  were  persuaded  to 
unite  in  a  petition  to  the  Governor  to  take  possession  of  the 
road  and  operate  it  by  a  superintendent  of  his  own  choosing. 
The  Governor  thereupon  appointed  Colonel  Banks,  stipu- 
lating that  his  custody  should  end  as  soon  as  the  rights  of 
the  contesting  parties  could  be  ascertained  and  settled.  This 
peaceable  adjustment  was  effected  by  the  exertions  of  Mr. 
D.  Dudley  Field,  who,  though  his  partners  had  previously 
been  concerned  for  the  Church  party,  now  first  appeared  as 
an  active  participant  in  the  controversy.  His  wisdom,  good 
temper,  and  sound  sense  discerned  what  was  not  seen  by 
others — the  incapacity  of  the  judicial  department  to  manage 
such  a  business,  and  the  necessity  of  putting  it  under  execu- 
tive arbitration. 

"  The  property  of  the  Company  being  now  safe  from  de- 
struction, the  stockholders  had  nothing  to  do  but  watch  and 
pray  that  Ramsey  might  not  by  any  stratagem  defeat  their 
right  to  choose  an  honest  Board  of  Directors.  The  election 
day  came  round  in  the  fullness  of  time ;  the  majority  pro- 
ceeded to  business  and  cast  their  votes ;  but  Ramsey  pro- 
nounced their  organization  illegal,  retired  with  his  confed- 
erates to  an  adjoining  room,  opened  a  poll,  and  declared 
himself  and  others  in  his  interest  duly  elected.     He  did  not 


224  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF       . 

vote  the  3,000  shares  sold  to  Groesbeck,  nor  the  9,500  fabri- 
cated on  the  5th  of  August ;  but  he  and  his  friends  held 
some  undisputed  shares  which  they  did  vote  at  their  own 
poll,  and  by  ignoring  the  majority  he  was  able  to  count 
himself  in  without  difficulty.  Both  Boards  claimed  to  be 
duly  elected,  and  they  organized  by  choosing  Messrs.  Church 
and  Ramsey  their  respective  Presidents.  Both  demanded 
the  surrender  of  the  corporate  franchises  into  their  hands, 
but  the  Governor  did  not  think  himself  authorized  to  decide 
between  them. 

"  Two  or  three  circumstances  connected  with  the  election, 
though  unimportant  in  themselves,  require  to  be  noticed 
here,  because  they  have  been  much  commented  on  else- 
where. 

"  The  fraudulent  asportation  of  the  records  was  accom- 
plished on  the  5th  of  August.  The  election  was  on  the  7th 
of  September.  On  the  night  of  the  6th,  Phelps  and  a  son  of 
Ramsey  secretly  carried  the  books  to  the  rear  of  the  build- 
ing and  hoisted  them  up  to  the  window  of  the  Treasurer's 
room  in  a  basket,  with  a  rope  tied  to  its  handle.  Nobody 
but  Ramsey  and  his  little  band  of  confederates  knew  of  this 
midnight  restitution  of  the  books  until  they  were  produced 
at  the  stockholders'  meeting  next  day.  In  the  mean  time 
the  Church  party,  seeing  the  election  approach  and  feeling 
the  necessity  of  having  the  ledgers  and  stock-lists  for  inspec- 
tion, and  having  failed  in  various  efforts  to  get  even  a  sight 
of  them,  resolved  upon  taking  a  legal  remedy.  They  brought 
suit  in  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  City  of  New  York  against 
Ramsey,  Phelps,  Pruyn,  and  Smith,  charging  them  with 
carrying  away  the  books  and  concealing  them  from  the 
stockholders.  By  the  Code  the  defendants  in  such  a  case 
are  liable  to  personal  arrest,  and  bail  was  accordingly  de 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  22$ 

manded  in  $25,000.  The  process  was  issued  on  the  6th  of 
September,  and  the  parties  were  arrested  (and  bail  taken  im- 
mediately) on  the  mornin^j  of  the  7th  (the  election  day),  the 
sheriff  having  chosen  his  own  time  to  execute  the  process. 
We  have  entirely  failed  to  comprehend  what  the  meaning 
of  the  men  can  be  who  vilify  Messrs.  Field  and  Shearman 
and  their  clients  for  bringing  this  suit.  Of  all  the  measures 
taken  by  either  of  the  parties  against  the  other,  throughout 
the  contest,  this  seems  to  us  the  most  unquestionably  just 
and  proper.  It  is  mere  nonsense  to  call  it  harsh  or  oppres- 
sive. It  was  meant  to  redress  a  most  atrocious  wrong,  for 
which  the  perpetrators,  by  the  law  of  any  other  Christian 
countr}^  would  have  been  condemned  as  criminals  to  heavy 

fines  and  long  imprisonment,  without  bail  or  mainprise 

"  The  presence  of  what  has  been  called  '  a  congregation  ot 
roughs'  in  the  room  was  subsequently  talked  of  very  freely. 
It  is  doubtless  true  that  on  both  sides  of  the  apartment  there 
crowded  a  considerable  number  of  men  not  clothed  in  pur- 
ple and  fine  linen,  nor  having  much  the  appearance  of  heavy 
capitalists.  It  happened  thus :  The  inspectors  under  whose 
auspices  Ramsey  designed  to  hold  the  election,  were  dis- 
qualified for  their  office  by  reason  of  not  being  stockholders. 
To  restrain  them  from  acting,  the  Church  party  of  course 
betook  themselves  to  the  everlasting  injunction,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  election  got  out  one  of  those  convenient  en- 
gines to  neutralize  the  illegal  authority  which  Ramsey  wish- 
ed to  bestow  and  probably  to  abuse.  This  would  leave  the 
inspectors  to  be  chosen  viva  voce,  and  the  imprcssiveness  of 
assent  or  dissent  might  depend  on  the  number  of  throats  and 
strength  of  lungs  employed  in  expressing  it.  Probably  both 
parties  anticipated  this  or  something  like  it.  It  is  certain 
that  both  improvised  a  force  of  courageous  and  muscular 


226  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

gentlemen,  and,  by  putting  a  proxy  in  the  hands  of  each 
one,  they  gave  them  all  a  technical  right  to  be  present  and 
to  swell  the  volume  of  the  ayes  and  noes  with  their  '  most 
sweet  voices.'  But  there  was  no  actual  disorder,  no  intimi- 
dation, no  violence  or  threat  of  violence. 

"  Another  thing :  Groesbeck  had  been  enjoined,  and  his 
2,400  fraudulent  shares  had  been  put  into  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver to  be  held  so  that  Groesbeck  could  not  vote  them. 
The  Ramsey  men,  on  the  morning  of  the  election,  undertook 
to  trump  this  injunction  by  getting  from  Judge  Clute,  of  the 
Albany  County  Court,  another  injunction  which  forbade  the 
inspectors  to  receive  miy  votes  of  the  Church  party  unless  the 
holders  of  the  fraudulent  stock  should  first  vote  on  that.  Ful- 
ler, the  receiver,  happened  to  be  present.  No  doubt  he  was 
puzzled.  He  heldthQ  stock,  and,  by  legal  intendment,  Judge 
Clute's  order  applied  to  him  if  it  applied  to  anybody.  He 
could  not  give  it  back  to  Groesbeck  without  defeating  the 
purpose  for  which  he  held  it,  and  exposing  himself  to  the 
danger  of  being  laid  by  the  heels.  If  he  refused  to  vote  it 
or  let  it  be  voted,  a  large  majority  of  bo^ia  fide  stockholders, 
with  rights  to  vote  otherwise  undisputed,  would  be  totally 
disfranchised.  He  took  the  advice  of  counsel  and  untied  the 
knot  by  literally  obeying  the  Clute  injunction  and  voting 
himself  Ramsey  and  his  men  were  fairly  infuriated  by  the 
failure  of  their  shallow  and  impudent  trick.  He  and  his 
counsel  and  his  judge  had  made  the  blunder  of  supposing 
that  Groesbeck  was  in  law  the  holder,  and  they  got  an  in- 
junction which  they  fancied  would  reinstate  his  fraudulent 
possession  or  else  defeat  the  clear  right  of  all  their  oppo- 
nents. But  they  got  one  which  in  fact  and  in  law  defeated 
themselves.  Mr.  Ramsey  is  not  the  first  engineer  that  was 
hoist  by  his  own  petard. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  22/ 

"The  Govxrnor  naturally  desired  to  get  rid  of  the  per- 
plexing and  anomalous  trust  imposed  upon  him  by  the 
agreement  of  the  parties.  Perceiving  that  the  election  was 
an  abortion,  and  seeing  that  the  judiciary  had  completely 
failed  to  settle  anything  in  any  of  the  numerous  suits  pend- 
ing between  the  parties,  he  directed  the  Attorney-General 
to  commence  another  in  the  name  of  the  people  against  both 
parties  togctJicr.  This  was  not  a  quo  zuarraiito,  nor  a  manda- 
mus, nor  a  bill  in  equity,  nor  an  action  in  case  or  trespass ; 
these  terms  belong  to  '  the  jargon  of  the  Common  Law,'  and 
the  Code  does  not  condescend  even  to  pronounce  them.  It 
was  a  proceeding  against  the  corporation  itself  which  the 
Governor  had  imder  his  care,  and  against  forty-nine  indi- 
viduals, of  two  fierce  parties,  contending  against  one  another 
for  its  management.  The  complaint  does  not  charge  them 
with  any  offense  against  the  plaintiff,  but  with  mutual  inju- 
ries committed  by  one  set  of  the  defendants  against  the  oth- 
ers ;  and  these  wrongs  consisted  mainly  in  bringing  suits  for 
what  they  respectively  averred  to  be  their  rights,  a  course 
of  conduct  which  the  Governor  (truly  enough,  perhaps) 
thought  would  result  in  no  good  to  anybody. 

"  Of  course  the  defendants  could  not  make  up  an  issue 
either  of  law  or  fact  between  themselves,  no  matter  how  they 
might  sever  in  their  answers  to  the  plaintiff.  In  the  dark 
days  of  Kent  and  Livingston  and  Spencer  it  was  thought 
morally  impossible  to  introduce  evidence  until  there  was  an 
issue  to  which  it  might  have  some  kind  of  application.  But 
here  the  defendants  were  called  in  and  permitted  to  fight 
one  another  to  their  hearts'  content,  without  pleadings  or 
prools,  and  the  judge  was  wholly  emancipated  from  that 
barbarous  bondage  which  in  past  times  would  have  compel- 
led him  to  pronounce  his  decree  secundum  allegata  et  probata. 


228  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

The  proceeding  seemed  sufficiently  free  from  '  technicalities.' 
It  was  apparently  not  fashioned,  like  the  injunction,  on  the 
principle  of  the  bastinado,  but  rather  modelled  after  that 
other  form  of  Turkish  justice  in  which  the  Sultan,  when  he 
finds  a  cause  too  difficult  to  be  otherwise  dealt  with,  sews 
up  the  stubborn  disputants  in  the  same  sack  and  casts  them 
into  the  Bosphorus  to  go  down  the  tide  together— which 
they  generally  do  with  a  most  edifying  disregard  for  the 
rules  of  navigation. 

"■  This  curious  cause  came  on  for  hearing  (which,  in  the 
nomenclature  of  the  Code,  is  called  a  iriar)  at  Rochester,  be- 
fore Judge  E.  Darwin  Smith,  without  a  jury.  It  was  argued 
by  Mr.  D.  Dudley  Field  for  one  portion  of  the  defendants 
and  by  Mr.  Henry  Smith  for  the  other,  the  plaintiff  appar- 
ently taking  no  part  whatever;  and  it  was  decided  in  De- 
cember, 1869.  Probably  nothing  more  severe  has  been  said, 
or  could  be  conceived,  of  Mr.  Justice  Smith's  judgment  than 
the  laudatory  words  bestowed  upon  it  by  Mr.  Adams.  We 
quote  them : 

"  '  There  arc  cases  where  a  judge  upon  the  bench  is  called 
upon  to  vindicate  in  no  doubtful  way  the  purity  as  well  as 
the  majesty  of  the  law  ;  cases  in  which  the  parties  before  the 
court  should  be  made  to  feel  that  they  are  not  equal,  that 
fraud  is  fraud  even  in  a  court  of  law— that  cavilling  and 
technicalities  and  special  pleading  cannot  bUnd  the  clear  eye 
of  equity.  It  is  possible  that  even  a  judicial  tone  may  be 
overdone  or  be  out  of  place.  There  are  occasions  when  the 
scales  of  justice  become  almost  an  encumbrance,  and  both 
hands  clutch  at  the  sword  alone.  Whether  the  magistrate 
upon  whom  the  decision  of  this  cause  devolved  was  right  in 
holding  this  to  be  such  an  occasion  is  not  now  to  be  discus- 
sed ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  his  decision  sustained  at  every 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  229 

point  the  Ramsey  board,  and  crushed  in  succession  all  the 
schemes  of  the  Erie  ring.  The  opinion  was  most  noticeable 
in  that  it  approached  the  inquiry  in  a  large  spirit.  Its  con- 
clusion was  not  made  to  turn  on  the  question  of  a  second  of 
time,  or  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  or  any 
other  technicality  of  the  pettifogger ;  it  swept  all  these  aside, 
and  spoice  firmly  and  clearly  to  the  question  of  fraud  and 
fraudulent  conspiracy. 

"*A11  the  elaborate  comparisons  of  watches,  and  noting 
of  fractional  parts  of  a  minute,  which  marked  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Erie  meeting,  were  treated  with  contempt,  but 
the  meeting  itself  was  pronounced  to  be  organized  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  previous  conspiracy,  and  the  election  held  by  it 
was  "  irregular,  fraudulent,  and  void."  The  scandals  of  the 
law — the  strange  processes,  injunctions,  orders,  and  conflicts 
of  jurisdiction — were  disposed  of  with  the  same  grasp,  when- 
ever they  came  in  the  path  of  the  decision.  The  appoint- 
ment of  Fuller  as  receiver  was  declared  to  have  been  made 
in  a  "suit  instituted  for  a  fraudulent  purpose,"  and  it  was 
pronounced  in  such  "  clear  conflict  with  the  law  and  settled 
practice  of  the  court"  as  to  be  explicable  only  on  a  supposi- 
tion that  the  order  was  "  granted  incautiously,  and  upon 
some  mistaken  oral  i-cprescntation  or  statement  of  the  facts 
of  the  case."  The  order  removing  the  regular  inspectors  of 
election  was  "  improvidently  granted"  and  was  "entirely 
void  ;"  and  the  keeping  it  back  by  counsel,  and  serving  it 
only  at  the  moment  of  the  election,  was  "  an  obvious  and 
designed  surprise  on  the  great  body  of  stockholders."  The 
suit  under  which  the  Barnard  order  of  arrest  was  issued 
against  Ramsey  and  Phelps  was  instituted  without  right; 
the  order  of  arrest  was  unauthorized  ;  the  order  to  hold 
bail  was  "  most  extraordinary  and  exorbitant,"  and  procured 


230  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"in  aid  of  fraudulent  purposes."  The  injunction  forbidding 
Ramsey  to  act  as  President  of  the  Company  was  "  entirely 
void."  The  3,000  shares  of  forfeited  stock  reissued  to  Mr. 
Groesbeck  were  pronounced  "  valid  stock,"  and  numerous 
precedents  were  cited  in  which  the  principle  had  been  sus- 
tained. Even  the  injudicious  subscription  for  the  9,500 
new  shares  of  stock  by  Ramsey  and  his  friends,  on  which 
they  had  not  attempted  to  vote  at  the  election,  was  declared 
in  point  of  law  regular,  valid,  and  binding  Upon  the  facts 
of  the  case  the  decision  was  equally  outspoken  ;  it  was  fraud 
and  conspiracy  everywhere.  "  The  importation  and  crowd- 
ing into  a  small  room"  of  a  large  number  of"  rude,  rough, 
and  dangerous  persons,"  and  furnishing  them  with  proxies 
that  they  might  participate  in  the  proceedings  of  the  meet- 
ing, "  was  a  gross  perversion  and  abuse  of  the  right  to  vote 
by  proxy,  and  a  clear  infringement  of  the  rights  of  stock- 
holders, tending,  if  such  proceedings  are  countenanced  by 
the  courts,  to  convert  corporation  meetings  into  places  of 
disorder,  lawlessness,  and  riot."  Finally,  costs  were  decreed 
to  the  Ramsey  Board  of  Directors,  and  a  reference  was  made 
to  Samuel  L.  Selden,  late  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
to  ascertain  and  report  a  proper  extra  allowance  in  the  case, 
and  to  which  of  the  defendants  it  was  to  be  paid.' 

"  Everything  being  decided  in  favor  of  Ramsey,  the  judg- 
ment of  course  included  a  decree  that  he  and  his  Board  were 
lawfully  elected,  although  they  had  received  a  very  small 
minority  of  the  votes.  The  scales  being  discarded,  the  ma- 
jority weighed  no  more  than  the  minority.*     An  order  was 

*  The  statements  both  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Curtis  are  obscure  concerning  the 
votes  given  by  the  respective  parties  at  the  election.  The  important  and  leading 
fact,  however,  is  well  established,  and  not  denied,  that  the  Church  party  owned, 
and  held,  and  voted  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  bona  Jide  siock  ;  and  the  Groesbeck 
stock  was  voted  for  them  besides  under  an  injunction  of  their  opponents.  Mr. 
Adams  informs  us  that   Ramsey  did  not  attempt  to  vote  any  part  of  the  9,500 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  23 1 

accordingly  made  that  Ramsey  and  his  Board  '  be  immedi- 
ately let  into  possession.'  The  first  thing  they  did  was  to 
put  the  property  forever  out  of  the  owners'  reach  by  a  per- 
petual lease  to  the  Hudson  and  Delaware  Canal  Company. 
This  was  not  all  or  nearl}'  all.  Within  one  month  after  Ram- 
sey and  his  Board  got  possession,  they  voted  to  him,  at  his 
own  request  and  on  his  own  dictation,  two  sums  of  money, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $62,802.25,  and  1,330  shares 
of  stock,  worth  at  par  $133,000.  If  this  was  not  a  mere 
gratuity — a  naked  robbery  of  the  stockholders — it  was  based 
on  some  transaction  grossly  corrupt ;  for  Ramsey  refused  to 
explain  the  ground  of  it,  and  the  Board  has  ever  since 
steadily  resisted  all  efforts  to  investigate  it. 

"  This  cause  it  took  but  little  time  to  dispose  of.  In  two 
months  from  the  day  when  the  stockholders  were  called 
into  court — '  two  little  months  or  ere  those  shoes  were  old' — 
they  were  turned  out,  despoiled  of  their  property,  and 
branded  as  fraudulent  conspirators  for  trying  to  hold  it.  We 
would  suppose  that  this  could  not  be  a  very  expensive  opera- 
tion. On  a  road  at  once  so  short  and  so  rough  the  tolls 
should  not  be  heavy.  The  justice  which  the  Church  party 
got  in  Judge  Smith's  court  ought  to  be  a  cheap  article,  since 
it  has  no  other  quality  to  make  it  desirable.  But  costs  were 
awarded — extra  costs — not  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs,  nor  against 
the  defendants  in  a  body,  but  against  some  of  the  defendants  in 

shares.  If  he  voted  only  those  bona  fide  shares  which  he  held  and  had  a  right 
to  vote,  his  own  return  must  have  shown  him  in  a  ver}'  meagre  minority.  But 
the  Court  declared  him  elected.  Whether  this  was  done  by  throwing  out  of 
the  count  all  the  votes  of  the  Church  party,  or  by  throwing  out  only  enough  to 
put  them  in  a  minority,  or  by  adding  to  Ramsey's  votes  others  which  were  not 
cast  at  all  by  either  party,  or  by  transferring  votes  actually  cast  for  Church  to 
Ramsey,  for  whom  they  were  not  cast,  we  have  no  information.  All  these  modes 
of  electing  a  defeated  candidate  are  adopted  when  occasion  requires  by  Phila- 
delphia return  judges,  and  sometimes  they  are  very  ingeniously  compounded 
together. 


232  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

favorof  Other  some.  An  ex-Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  was 
appointed  assessor  to  aid  in  fixing  the  amount,  and  it  was  fixed 
at  ninety-two  thousand  dollars  !  An  economical  nation  might 
carry  on  a  small  war  without  spending  more  than  it  costs  a  pri- 
vate citizen  to  defend  his  plainest  rights  in  a  Rochester  court. 

"  The  Church  party  appealed  to  the  General  Term,  where 
all  the  rulings  of  Judge  Smith  were  reversed,  through  and 
through,  except  upon  the  validity  of  the  election.  That  was 
affirmed  on  the  ground  that  he  was  competent  to  pass  upon  it ; 
that  is  to  sa}^  he  had  legal  authority  which  made  his  deter- 
mination upon  the  point  conclusive.     .     .     . 

"  Ramsey,  being  elated  with  his  conquest  of  the  Albany  and 
Susquehanna,  determined  to  invade  the  Erie,  in  hopes  of  subju- 
gating that  also.  He  was  not  a  creditor  nor  a  stockholder ;  but 
to  give  him  nominal  status,  Groesbeck — the  same  Groesbeck — 
bought  for  him  thirteen  shares  of  stock  and  six  bonds.  With 
these  he  went  to  Delhi,  the  most  secluded  county  town  in  the 
State,  situated  twenty  miles  from  any  railway  line,  and  accessi- 
ble only  by  mountain  roads.  There  he  found  Judge  Murray, 
one  of  the  thirty-three,  and  to  him  he  complained  that  he 
was  in  danger  of  losing  the  money  he  had  invested  in  these 
bonds  and  this  stock,  by  reason  of  certain  mismanagement 
of  its  officers  and  Directors,  the  recital  of  which  covered 
three  hundred  and  forty  folios.  On  this  complaint  the  Judge 
gave  him,  not  merely  an  injunction,  but  a  great  quantity  of 
injunctions  ;  suspended  a  majority  of  the  Directors,  appointed 
a  receiver,  restrained  the  suspended  Directors  from  making 
defence  in  this  or  any  other  suit  involving  their  official  con- 
duct, commanded  the  unsuspended  Directors  to  see  that  the 
company  was  promptly  represented  by  such  counsel  as  they 
should  select,  ordered  that  no  creditor  but  Ramsey  should 
institute  any  suit  to  collect  or  secure  his  debt,  and  directed 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  233 

the  defendants,  under  penalty  of  contempt,  to  bring  no  cross- 
suit  which  might  embarrass  the  plaintiff  in  his  prosecution  of 
this  one.  Under  these  orders  Ramsey  managed  to  have  the 
defendants  promptly  represented  by  a  family  connection  of 
his  own.  When  this  destructive  missile  burst  on  the  men  of 
Erie  at  their  New  York  office,  it  no  doubt  produced  some 
terror.  They  immediately  sought  the  ablest  counsel  they 
could  find,  and  directed  Messrs.  Field  and  Shearman  to  adopt 
energetic  measures  of  defence.  But  those  gentlemen  were 
informed  that  they  could  not  appear,  their  clients  being  al- 
ready represented  by  an  attorney  who  had  been  selected  for 
them,  whom  they  did  not  know,  and  whose  name  even  they 
were  not  permitted  to  learn.  Nor  could  they  discover  who 
was  the  person  appointed  to  take  charge  of  their  client's 
property,  and  exercise  over  it  the  unlimited  control  of  a 
receiver.  The  alarm  of  the  parties  was  greatly  increased 
when  they  learned  that  their  rights  were  to  be  in  the  keep- 
ing of  David  Groesbeck,  the  man  who  had  aided  Ramsey  in 
all  his  previous  frauds,  and  whose  sense  of  moral  and  legal 
obligation  may  be  learned  from  a  fact  stated  by  jNIr,  Adams ; 
namely,  that  he  defended  Ramsey's  fabrication  of  fraudulent 
stock  and  his  appropriation  of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna. 
Company's  bonds,  and  *  declared  that  under  the  same  circum- 
stances and  fighting  the  same  men  he  himself  w^ould  have 
gone  as  far,  and  further  too  if  necessary.' 

"  Here  was  such  a  case  as  no  community  living  under  an}'' 
kind  of  a  code  had  ever  seen  before.  All  the  property  of  a 
corporation  worth  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  and  employing  in 
its  service  the  daily  labor  of  twenty-five  thousand  hands, 
was  snatched  from  the  owners  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  by 
an  order  made  behind  their  backs,  and  all  their  rights  and 
the  rights  of  their  employes  and  creditors  were  put  at  the 


234  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

mercy  of  a  man  who,  speaking  of  these  very  owners,  had 
openly  avowed  that  in  deahng  with  them  he  would  be  re- 
strained by  no  moral  principle ;  that  fighting  the  same  men 
he  would  betray  the  most  sacred  trust,  clandestinely  appro- 
priate their  property,  make  false  papers  to  cheat  them,  and 
injure  them  otherwise  by  going  still  further  if  necessary. 
All  these  perilous  notions  of  right  and  wrong  were  fully 
shared  by  the  plaintiff,  who  had  secured  an  attorney  for  the 
defence,  and  so  made  himself  doniinus  litis  on  both  sides. 
Ex  parte  injunctions  had  often  before  this  torn  men's  prop- 
erty out  of  their  possession  without  a  hearing,  but  the  Rha- 
damanthian  justice  of  a  subsequent  trial  was  always  conceded. 
Here  the  right  to  make  even  an  ex  post  facto  defence  was 
taken  out  of  their  hands.     .     .     . 

"  Messrs.  Field  and  Shearman,  after  much  difficulty  and 
delay,  got  on  the  track  of  the  unknown  person  who  was 
representing  their  clients,  wrung  the  case  out  of  his  hands, 
and  gained  a  position  where  the  plaintiff  was  compelled  to 
face  them  with  his  proofs.  He  broke  down  utterly  and  his 
complaint  was  dismissed.  Afterward  he  and  his  backers 
raised  a  clamor  that  he  had  been  forced  to  trial  with  his 
hands  tied.  In  truth  his  hands  were  as  loose  as  need  be,  but 
they  were  not  clean  enough  to  be  shown. 

"  If  no  counsellor  can  be  concerned  for  Fisk  and  Gould  in 
any  case  whatever  without  becoming  infamous,  it  follows 
that  no  court  can,  without  incurring  a  similar  penalty,  ex- 
tend the  protection  of  the  law  to  their  plainest  rights.  They 
are  mere  outlaws ;  they  may  be  slandered,  swindled,  robbed 
with  impunity,  'and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whosoever 
findeth  them  shall  slay  them.'*     If  this  be  consistent  with  the 

"  *  This  was  written,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  printer,  before  the  assassination 
of  Colonel  Fisk." — Ed. 


IN   CONFIDENCE  WITHJOStE 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  237 

genius  of  our  institutions,  \vc  have  misapprehended  those 
provisions  of  the  fundamental  law,  which  declare  that  the 
courts  are  open  to  all  men,  and  that  all  shall  have  a  fair  trial, 
with  counsel  to  assist  them  in  getting  justice. 

"  This  style  of  attack  upon  Mr.  Field  looks  to  us  like  a 
very  unmistakable  tribute  to  his  good  fame.  The  character 
of  a  lawyer  must  be  more  than  commonly  spotless  when  his 
enemies  have  no  material  for  defaming  him,  except  what 
they  get  by  raking  about  among  the  faults  and  follies  of  his 
clients.  But  that  society  is  a  very  unsafe  one  to  live  in 
whose  sense  of  justice  will  permit  one  man  to  be  hunted 
down,  merely  because  the  wolf's  head  has  been  placed  on 
another.  The  reputation  of  law)'ers — v/hich  is  the  life  of 
their  lives — will  be  extremely  precarious,  however  virtuous 
their  own  acts  may  have  been,  if  the  concentrated  odium  of 
all  their  clients'  sins  can  be  cast  upon  themselves. 

"  The  Church  party — that  is  to  say,  the  proprietors  of  the 
Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railroad — had  a  cause  as  just, 
legal,  and  fair  as  any  court  ever  saw.  They  had  been 
remorselessly  plundered  by  a  gang  of  reckless  knaves,  who 
made  no  secret  of  their  intentions  to  repeat  the  robbery  in 
the  same,  as  well  as  in  other,  forms.  Messrs.  Field  and 
Shearman  accepted  the  retainer  of  these  injured  parties,  and 
gave  them  the  promise  of  such  redress  and  protection  as 
they  could  legally  obtain  for  them.  Now  it  is  charged  that 
this  engagement  to  procure  justice  by  legal  means,  in  a  per- 
fectly upright  case,  as  a  prostitution  by  Messrs.  Field  and 
Shearman  of  their  talents  and  influence,  because  one  or  two 
of  the  parties  thus  injured  are  supposed  to  have  been  pre- 
viously engaged  in  other  transactions,  in  which  they  were 
themselves  to  blame.  Whether  this  be  true  or  false,  it  fur 
nished  no  reason  to  Messrs.  Field  and  Shearman  for  rejecting 
14 


238  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the  case  on  moral  grounds.  If  the  cause,  though  just,  was 
likely  to  become  unpopular  because  Fisk  and  Gould  were  in 
it,  that  was  an  additional  reason  for  taking  it.  Mere  public 
clamor  will  not  deter  any  honorable  man  from  the  perform- 
ance of  a  duty ;  on  the  contrary,  he  is  ex'cited  to  higher 
efforts  when  '  the  heathen  rage  and  the  people  imagine  a 
vain  thing.' 

"  That  they  behaved  with  scrupulous  uprightness  in  the 
progress  of  the  cause,  and  used  no  unfair  means  to  reach  the 
ends  of  justice,  is  a  proposition  which  will  not  be  denied, 
unless  by  some  who  think  that  it  is  wrong,  in  all  circum- 
stances, to  take  out  an  ex  parte  injunction.  Certainl}^  the 
law  which  allows  this  mode  of  proceeding  is  entitled  to  no 
commendation.  But,  while  it  is  in  full  force,  it  may  be  used 
for  a-  proper  purpose,  with  a  safe  conscience.  Every  man  is 
justified  in  defending  the  right  against  the  wrong,  with  such 
weapons  as  the  law  puts  into  his  hands.  Even  L'Estrange's 
'  Honest  Lawyer,'  rigid  as  he  is,  '  uses  the  nice  snapperadoes 
of  practice,  in  a  defensive  way,  to  countermine  the  plots 
of  knavery,  though  he  had  rather  be  dumb  than  suffer  his 
tongue  to  pimp  for  injustice,  or  club  his  parts  to  bolster  up 
a  cheat  with  the  legerdemain  of  law-craft.' " 


^ 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  239 


CHAPTER    XXV  III. 

The  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  War  was,  indeed, 
a  remarkable  one,  and  for  a  time  it  threatened  very  serious 
consequences.  On  two  or  three  occasions  the  employes  of 
the  rival  holders  of  the  property — Fisk  held  possession  of  the 
Binghamton  end  of  the  road,  while  Ramsey  maintained  his 
position  at  the  Albany  end — came  together  in  armed  conflict ; 
and  in  one  fight,  that  at  the  "  Tunnel,"  in  which  several  hun- 
dred were  engaged,  a  large  number  were  wounded. 

So  bitter  was  the  feeling,  so  determined  were  the  leaders, 
and  so  threatening  to  the  public  peace  were  the  movements 
of  the  contending  forces,  that  Governor  Hoffman  was  obliged 
to  order  out  a  regiment  of  the  National  Guard.  Fortunately, 
the  rioters  dispersed  before  the  military  reached  the  scene  of 
conflict.  Fisk  v.'as  twice  arrested  b}'  the  Albany  police,  and 
was  once  in  danger  of  being  shot  from  the  balconj-  of  the 
building  in  which  were  the  offices  of  the  Albany  and  Sus- 
quehanna Railroad  Company.  During  all  the  intense  excite- 
ment of  this  remarkable  period,  Jim  Fisk  was  the  same  easy, 
jolly,  rollicking  creature  of  impulse  that  he  ever  was,  and 
his  jokes  and  champagne  were  lavishly  distributed  to  the 
crou'd  of  visitors  who  thronged  his  parlors  at  the  Delavan 
House.  Here  he  had  a  corps  of  clerks,  hard  at  work,  and 
his  army  of  messengers  rushing  in  and  out  all  day  long,  and 
far  into  the  night,  made  the  celebrated  .Mbany  hostelry  as 
livcl}'  a  place  as  one  would  wish  to  see. 

The  Gov(h-nor  had  now  taken  possession  of  the  road  in 


240  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

dispute,  at  the  request  of  the  two  receivers,  and  had  ap- 
pointed two  members  of  his  staff,  General  James  McQuade 
and  Colonel  R.  Lenox  Banks,  to  hold  the  property,  repair 
the  damages,  and  run  the  business  until  further  orders. 

The  following,  on  ''  The  Lesson  of  Erie,"  Avas  written  bj 
Horace  Greeley,  and  printed  in  the  Tribune,  November  2nd, 
1869,  just  after  the  temporary  settlement  of  the  Erie  diffi- 
culties : 

" Injunctions  and  counter-injunctions  now  became 

so  many,  and  so  puzzling,  that  the  shrewdest  counsel  could 
hardly  keep  account  of  them.  Judge  Gierke  enjoined  Judge 
Barnard  from  appointing  a  receiver,  his  clerks  from  entering 
the  order,  if  one  should  be  appointed,  and  the  receiver  from 
accepting  it,  if  it  were  ordered.  The  injunction  was  served 
upon  Barnard  as  he  sat  upon  the  bench,  and  he  immediately 
proceeded  to  vacate  the  order  and  appoint  a  receiver;  the 
enjoined  clerk  made  the  entry  ;  and  the  receiver  was  enjoined 
as  soon  as  he  could  be  caught.  The  tangle  finally  became  so 
hopeless  that,  by  a  sort  of  agreement  of  parties,  Judge  In- 
graham  issued  a  general  order,  forbidding  everybody  from 
doing  anything,  and  so  the  rubbish  was  swept  away.  And 
vv'hat  had  been  the  result  ?  Mr.  Drew  had  escaped  to  Jersey 
City  with  87,000,000,  and  defied  the  courts.  Mr.  Peter  B. 
Sweeny  had  been  appointed  receiver  after  there  v.-as  nothing 
to  receive,  and  had  been  allowed  $150,000  by  Judge  Barnard 
for  his  trouble  in  taking  care  of — nothing.  A  few  ten-dollar 
fines  had  been  imposed  for  contempt  of  court;  and  $150,000 
had  been  divided  among  the  Erie  counsel.  This  was  all,  so 
far  as  the  cases  really  before  the  courts  are  involved.  But, 
incidentally  there  had  arisen  some  starthng  inquiries  about 
the  purity  of  Judge  Barnard's  court.  In  the  application  to 
Judge  Gilbert  for  an  injunction,  Barnard  had  been  described 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  24 1 

as  an  accomplice  in  Vanderbilt's  operations.  Then  came 
scenes  so  extraordinary  that  no  honest  citizen  can  recall  them 
without  blushing.  Judije  Barnard  declared  from  the  bench 
that  he  employed  spies  to  watch  the  parties  who  were  liti- 
gating before  him.  The  old  scandal  of  his  accessibilit}'  to 
certain  counsel  was  revived,  and  openly  made  the  subject  of 
a  cross-examination  before  him  ;  and  Mr.  John  B.  Haskin  testi- 
fied that,  where  great  interests  were  involved,  he  had  some- 
times undertaken  to  personally  influence  the  Judge  ;  that  he 
*  might  have'  influenced  his  action  '  as  a  judge' — but  only,  of 
course,  on  the  side  of  right ;  and  he  would  not  swear  that  he 
had  not  used  his  influence  to  get  a  decision  in  favor  of  some 
person  in  litigation  whose  cause  he  had  expoused. 

"  A  truce  and  division  of  profit  and  loss  now  ensued.  Van- 
derbilt  and  Drew  received  several  millions  each,  and  the 
Erie  Railway  was  left  to  Messrs.  Fisk  and  Gould,  who 
straightway  made  an  alliance  with  the  Tammany  Ring,  and 
began  a  new  scries  of  legal  scandals.  We  remember  how, 
at  their  request,  Judge  Barnard  issued  an  injunction  in  bed, 
and  appointed  Jay  Gould  receiver;  how,  in  defiance  of  a  law 
of  the  State,  (to  say  nothing  of  orders  of  court,)  he  authorized 
the  Company,  after  running  down  their  own  shares  in  the 
bear  interest  to  40,  to  buy  them  back  at  80,  in  order  that 
they  might  arrange  the  famous  Erie  corner ;  how  he  called 
upon  the  Grand  Jury  to  indict  the  newspapers  which  com- 
mented upon  his  extraordinary  orders  in  the  interest  of  the 
Erie  Ring,  but  let  the  prosecution  drop  when  the  jury  com- 
plied with  his  suggestion  ;  how  Cardozo  afterward  took 
Barnard's  place,  and  Judge  Balcom,  again  at  Binghamton, 
and  Judge  Peckham  at  Albany,  besides  several  judges  :ri 
New  York,  took  part,  altogether,  in  the  war,  until  law  be- 
came, more  than  ever,  a  reproach,  and  the  processes  of  the 


242  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

court  a  laughing-stock.  And  we  remember,  too,  that  ever)- 
order  from  the  bench  was  defeated,  either  by  a  counter-order 
or  by  insolent  and  unpunished  defiance.  The  parties  to  the 
conflict  settled  their  differences,  at  last,  by  a  corrupt  compro- 
mise at  Albany. 

"  Next  came  the  affair  of  the  Erie  and  Susquehanna  roads. 
Here,  again,  the  battle  of  injunctions  raged  for  a  while,  and 
the  swindle  of  receivership  was  revived  in  full  force.  At  a 
critical  moment,  the  Erie  Judge  happened  to  be  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Erie  Railroad  offices  one  night  at  ten  o'clock, 
just  in  time  to  sign  an  order  appointing  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  re- 
ceiver of  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Company,  and  start 
him  off  by  a  late  train.  But  even  so  zealous  a  judiciary  as 
this  could  not  settle  the  dispute.  The  rival  companies  flew 
to  arms,  tore  up  tracks,  sent  locomotives  butting  against 
each  other  under  a  head  of  steam,  and  paralyzed  the  trade 
of  a  whole  district,  until  the  Governor  took  possession  of  the 
disputed  property  by  force,  and  ran  it  as  a  military  road. 
The  latest  scene  in  the  case  of  Erie  and  the  courts  is  the 
great  gold  speculation,  which  has  just  convulsed  Wall 
street. 

"  Here  again,  after  the  bubble  had  burst,  and  the  chief 
offenders  were  threatened  with  irremediable  ruin,  we  find 
the  conspirators  invoking  the  jugglers  on  the  bench,  and 
begging  the  protection  of  an  injunction  against  the  conse- 
quences of  their  own  wickedness.  How  far  they  will  carry 
out  their  scheme,  we  cannot  foresee.  The  result  so  far  has 
been  to  save  the  gamblers  from  the  necessity  of  paj^ing  their 
debts.  To-day,  the  people  of  New  York  will  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  deciding  whether  such  a  judiciary  as  we  have  here 
sketched  shall  continue  to  afflict  society,  or  shall  be  changed 
for  a  better.      It  is  a  system  under  which  the  courts   can 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  243 

easily  be  made  the  instruments  of  the  ricli  and  unscrupulous, 
while  even  honest  judges  may  fail  to  protect  the  weak.  We 
call  upon  all  good  men  to  vote  for  reform.  We  may  have  it 
under  the  new  Constitution.  We  should  never  get  it  under 
the  old." 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

In  order  to  exhibit  the  full  history  of  the  celebrated  Gold 
Panic,  in  which  Fisk  figured  so  conspicuously,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  review  briefly  the  movement  of  gold  during  the 
year  previous  to  September,  1869. 

The  price  of  gold  on  the  ist  of  September,  1868,  was  145. 
During  the  fall  and  winter  it  continued  to  decline,  inter- 
rupted only  by  occasional  fluctuations,  till,  in  March,  1869, 
it  touched  i2,oj{,  its  lowest  point  for  three  years,  and  con- 
tinued near  that  poin,t  until  the  middle  of  the  following 
month. 

At  this  time  Jay  Gould,  President  of  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  bought  87,000,000  of  gold,  and  ran  up  the  price 
from  132  to  140.  His  example  was  followed  by  other  brok- 
ers, and  by  the  20th  of  May  the  price  had  advanced  to  144^^, 
from  which  point  it  declined  steadily,  reaching  136  on  the 
31st  of  July. 

The  first  indication  of  a  concerted  movement  on  the  part 
of  those  who  were  prominent  in  the  jxmic  of  September  was 
an  attempt  to  secure  as  assistant  treasurer  at  New  York, 
somebody   who  would   act  in  their  interest  and   obey  their 


244  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

behests.  The  two  persons  most  active  in  this  attempt  were 
Jay  Gould,  and  A.  R.  Corbin,  a  brother-in-law  of  President 
Grant,  H.  H.  Van  Dyck  had  resigned  from  the  Sub-Treas- 
ury in  June,  and  Corbin  nominated  for  the  position  his  step- 
son-in-law%  Robert  B.  Catherwood,  Jay  Gould  pledging  his 
earnest  support  in  securing  the  appointment.  Mr.  Cather- 
wood seems  to  have  been  an  honest  man,  for  when  he  dis- 
covered that  the  object  Gould  and  Corbin  had  in  view  was 
not  the  financial  good  of  the  country,  he  promptly  declined 
the  proffered  honor.  In  his  testimony  before  the  House 
Committee,  in  March,  1870,  he  said  : 

"  After  I  was  solicited  to  accept  this  office,  and  had  the 
matter  under  debate,  I  went  the  next  day  to  have  a  conver- 
sation with  Mr.  Gould  and  Mr.  Corbin,  and  I  found  that  the 
remark- v.^as  simply  this  :  that  the  parties  could  operate  in  a 
legitimate  way  and  make  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  that  all 
could  be  benefited  by  it  in  a  legitimate  manner.  Nothing 
underhand  or  illegitimate.  The  phrase  used  was  '  illegitimate 
manner.'  I  satisfied  myself  that  I  could  not  fill  the  bill.  .  .  . 
I  did  not  look  at  it  in  the  same  light  that  they  did,  and  I  just 
declined.  ...  I  understood  that  it  was  buying  gold  and 
stocks  and  bonds  on  a  certainty  of  the  movements  of  the 
government  in  selling  or  not  selling  gold.  ...  It  was  un- 
derstood that  if  I  took  the  position,  Gould,  Corbin,  myself 
and  others,  would  go  into  some  operations  such  as  the  pur- 
chase of  gold  and  stocks,  and  that  we  should  share  and  share 
alike." 

After  the  emphatic  refusal  of  Catherwood  to  accept  the 
position  of  Sub-TreaSurer,  Corbin  and  Gould  secured  the 
appointment  of  Daniel  Butterfield,  a  Colonel  and  Brevet 
Major-General  in  the  United  States  Army,  who  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  on  the  ist  of  July. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  245 

Previous  to  Butterficld's  appointment,  or  about  the  15th 
of  June,  the  first  attempt  was  made  to  discover,  if  possible, 
the  purposes  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  regard  to  sales  of  gold.  The  President  was  on 
his  way  to  Boston  on  board  of  one  of  Fisk's  Fall  River  line 
of  steamers,  in  company  with  Cyrus  W.  Field,  and  several 
other  prominent  citizens.  At  the  supper-table,  Fisk  and 
Gould,  both  being  present,  the  conversation  turned  upon  the 
state  of  the  country,  and  gradually  reached  the  subject  of 
gold.     Jay  Gould's  account  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  President  was  a  listener;  the  other  gentlemen  were 
discussing.  Some  were  in  favor  of  Boutwell's  selling  gold, 
and  some  were  opposed  to  it.  After  they  had  all  inter- 
changed their  views,  some  one  asked  the  President  what  his 
opinion  was.  He  remarked  that  he  thought  there  was  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  fictitiousness  about  the  prosperity  of  the 
country,  and  that  the  bubble  might  as  well  be  tapped  in  one 
way  as  another.  He  then  asked  me  what  I  thought  about 
it.  I  gave  it  as  my  opinion  that  if  that  policy  were  carried 
out  it  would  produce  great  distress,  and  almost  lead  to  civil 
war ;  it  would  produce  strikes  among  the  workmen,  and  the 
workshops,  to  a  great  extent,  would  have  to  be  closed,  and 
the  manufactories  would  have  to  stop.  I  took  the  gi-ound 
that  the  government  ought  to  let  gold  alone,  and  let  it  fi:id 
its  commercial  level ;  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  ought  to 
facilitate  an  upward  movement  of  gold  in  the  fall.  .  .  .  We 
supposed,  from  that  conversation,  that  the  President  was  a 
contractionist." 

James  Fisk,  in  his  testimony  before  the  House  Investigat- 
ing Committee,  was  a  trifle  plainer.     He  said  : 

"  On  our  passage  over  to  Boston  with  General  Grant,  we 
endeavored  to  ascertain  what  his  position  in  regard  to  the 


246  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

finance  was.  We  went  down  to  supper  at  aoout  nine 
o'clock,  intending,  while  we  were  there,  to  have  this  thing 
pretty  thoroughly  talked  up,  and,  if  possible,  to  relieve  him 
from  any  idea  of  putting  the  price  of  gold  down  ;  for,  if  his 
policy  was  such  as  to  allow  gold  to  go  down  to  25,  our 
transportation  would  have  been  snapped  right  up.  We 
talked  there,  I  guess,  till  about  half-past  twelve.  When  we 
first  began  to  talk,  I  could  see  that  he  was  for  returning  to  a 
specie  basis.  I  remember  the  remark  he  made,  that  we 
might  as  well  tap  the  bubble  at  once  as  at  any  other  time, 
saying  that  it  had  come  to  that.  That  was  at  the  first  part 
of  the'  conversation.  He  entered  into  the  conversation  with 
a  good  deal  of  spirit,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  he  was 
individually  paying  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the  finances, 
which  he  would  to  a  certain  extent  control,  so  far  as  the 
action  of  the  government  was  concerned." 

The  next  morning  Gould  was  selling  out  his  stocks. 

On  their  return  to  New  York,  Fisk  and  Gould  made  up 
their  minds  to  bring  such  a  pressure  upon  the  administration 
as  to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  further  decline  iri  gold,  which 
would  interfere  seriously  with  their  speculative  plans.  This 
was  to  be  effected  by  facts  and  arguments  presented  in  the 
name  of  the  country  and  its  business  interests  ;  and  a  finan- 
cial theory  was  agreed  upon,  which,  on  its  face,  would  appeal 
to  the  business  interests  of  the  country,  and  enlist  in  its  sup- 
port many  patriotic  citizens,  but  would,  if  adopted,  inciden- 
tally enable  the  conspirators  to  make  their  speculation  emi- 
nently successful.  That  theory  was,  that  the  business 
interests  of  the  country  required  an  advance  in  the  price  of 
gold  ;  that,  in  order  to  move  the  Fall  crops,  and  secure  the 
foreign  market  for  our  grain,  it  was  necessary  that  gold 
shoiild  be  put  up  to  145.    The  instrument  chosen  to  lay  these 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  247 

views  before  the  President  was  his  brother-in-law,  A, 
R.  Corbin,  who  soon  became  a  willing  convert  to  the 
theory.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  previous  purchase 
and  carriage  of  §2,000,000  of  United  States  bonds  by  Mr. 
Gould,  for  Corbin's  profit,  may  have  aided  in  his  conver- 
sion. 

Jay  Gould  said  in  his  testimony  before  the  House  Com- 
mittee : 

"  Mr.  Corbin  is  a  very  shrewd  old  gentleman  ;  much  more 
far-seeing  than  the  newspapers  give  him  credit  for.  He  saw 
at  a  glance  the  whole  case,  and  said  that  he  thought  it  the  true 
platform  to  stand  on  ;  that  whatever  the  government  could 
do  legitimately  and  fairly  to  facilitate  the  exportation  of 
breadstuflfs,  and  to  procure  good  prices  for  the  products  of 
the  West,  they  ought  to  do.  He  was  anxious  that  I  should 
see  the  President  and  communicate  to  him  my  view  of  the 
subject.  Being  connected  in  m}'  railroad  business  with  the 
matter  of  transportation,  and  knowing  the  views  of  those 
managing  the  other  trunk  lines,  he  thought  that  I  knew  the 
substance  of  the  concentrated  views  of  these  people,  and  he 
"wanted  me  to  see  the  President  and  talk  with  him.  I  went 
to  Mr.  Corbin's,  and  was  introduced  to  the  President." 

Corbin  testified  : 

"  I  had  been  out  of  politics  for  a  good  many  years,  but 
still  a  remembrance  remained  with  me ;  and  I  was  now  the 
more  interested,  as  I  had  a  natural  desire  for  the  success  of 
the  administration  of  the  brother  of  ni}'-  wife,  especially  dur- 
ing its  first  year.  While  at  home  TNIr.  Gould  used  to  call  at 
my  house  occasionally ;  and  as  I  heard  that  he  was  a  Wall 
street  operator,  I  always  improved  the  opportunity  to  talk 
with  !iim.  I  took  advantage  of  every  occasion  to  impress 
upon  him  what  I  thought  was  a  vital  point,  and  that  was,  to 


248  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

let  the  farmers  and  mechanics  and  manufacturers  have  good 
prices  for  their  productions." 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  that  in  these  interviews  se- 
cured by  Corbin,  great  care  was  taken  to  urge  only  the  pa- 
triotic side  of  the  question,  and  its  relations  to  the  great 
business  interests  of  the  country.  According  to  Corbin's 
testimony,  the  President  engaged  in  these  conversations 
with  reluctance,  and  the  moment  any  allusion  was  made  to 
the  future  policy  of  the  government,  he  became  very  reti- 
cent, and  on  one  occasion  reprimanded  a  servant  for  allov/- 
ing  Mr.  Gould  such  ready  access. 

Fisk  heard  that  the  President  had  gone  to  Newport,  and 
immediately  followed  him  thither.  His  object  is  made  suffi- 
ciently plain  in  the  following  extract  from  his  testimony  be- 
fore the  Committee : 

"  General  Grant  started  to  go  to  Newport.  I  then  went 
down  to  see  him.  I  had  seen  him  before,  but  not  feeling  as 
thoroughly  acquainted  as  I  desired  to  for  this  purpose,  I 
took  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Gould,  in  which  it  was 
written  that  there  were  three  hundred  sail  of  vessels  on  the 
Mediterranean  from  the  Black  Sea,  with  grain  to  supply  the 
Liverpool  market.  Gold  was  then  about  34 ;  if  it  continued 
at  that  price,  we  had  very  little  chance  of  carrying  forward 
the  crop  during  the  fall.  I  know  that  we  felt  very  nervous 
about  it.  I  talked  with  General  Grant  on  the  subject,  and 
endeavored  as  far  as  I  could  to  convince  him  that  his  policy 
was  one  that  would  bring  destruction  on  us  all." 

This  visit  seemed  to  haVe  been  productive  of  no  good  re- 
sult. When  Fisk  returned  to  New  York,  he  found  Jay 
Gould  associated  nith  two  brokers,  W.  S.  Woodward  and 
Arthur  Kimber.  They  had  purchased  a  large  amount  of 
gold,  but  had  not  succeeded  in  greatly  advancing  the  price. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  249 

All  their  efforts  to  secure  any  promising-  prospect  of  a  rise 
in  gold  had  thus  far  failed,  and  Gould  still  tried  in  vain  to 
induce  Fisk  to  cooperate  in  his  purchases. 

But  with  gamblers  and  stock-brokers,  expedients  are  never 
lacking.  The  conspirators  started  a  new  scheme.  They 
managed  to  get  control  of  certain  press  columns,  for  the 
purpose  of  spreading  the  rumor  that  there  would  be  no  gold 
sold  by  the  Treasury  for  a  month  or  more,  and  came  very 
near  being  successful.  At  this  time  the  Hon.  John  Bigelow 
was  editor-in-chief  of  the  Netu  York  Times.  On  the  5th  of 
August  he  had  an  interview  with  General  Grant,  during 
which  the  financial  condition  and  prospects  of  -the  country 
were  discussed  at  considerable  length.  On  the  6th  and  7th 
of  that  month  two  editorial  articles  appeared  in  the  Times, 
which  were  understood  to  represent  the  views  of  the  Presi- 
dent, if  they  were  not  directly  inspired  by  him.  On  the  19th 
the  President  passed  through  New  York,  and  immediately 
thereafter  an  attempt  was  made  b}^  the  gold  conspirators  to 
use  the  columns  of  the  Times  for  the  publication  of  an  article 
which  should  appear  to  be  a  semi-official  declaration  of  the 
financial  polic}^  of  the  administration,  but  which  should  have 
the  effect  to  raise  the  price  of  gold,  and  thus  aid  their  spec- 
ulation. 

An  article  for  that  paper  was  written  b}'  A.  R.  Corbin,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Ja}'  Gould,  on  the  23d  of  August.  This  set 
forth  that  the  policy  of  the  administration  was  to  advance 
the  price  of  gold,  and  in  it  the  transportation  theory  of  Gould 
and  Fisk  wis  advocated.  The  title  of  the  article  was  "  Grant's 
Financial  Pohcy,"  and  it  was  agreed  that  it  should  be  pub- 
lished as  an  editorial,  and  under  the  auspices  of  Jay  Gould, 
who  v/as  to  influence  the  editor  of  the  paper  through  the 
services  of  the  great  English  capitalist,  James  McHenry.  a 


250  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

personal  fiiend  of  Bigelow  and  Gould,  Mr.  McHenry  called 
at  the  Times  office,  submitted  the  article,  and  represented  it 
as  embodying  the  views  of  the  President.  It  was  ordered 
in,  double  leaded,  but  when  the  proof  came  down,  a  more 
careful  perusal  convinced  the  editor  that  the  writer  "  had  an 
ax  to  grind."  Mr.  C.  C.  Norvel,  the  money  editor  of  the 
paper,  was  requested  to  pass  upon  it,  and  the  result  he  nar- 
rated in  his  testimony  before  the  Investigating  Committee. 

"  How  this  article  reached  the  office,  I  only  know  from 
hearsay.  As  to  whether  Mr.  Gould,  Mr.  Corbin,  or  who 
sent  it,  I  have  no  knowledge.  I  did  not  see  the  manuscript 
for  some  time  after,  and  not  until  this  controversy  arose. 
That  article  was  represented  to  have  come  from  some  par- 
ticular friend  of  the  President.  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  it  was  put  in  type  just  as  it  was  written,  and 
double  leaded,  to  be  pubhshed  as  an  editorial  leader.  I  had 
gone  home  to  Staten  Island,  and  my  assistant  in  the  money 
department  told  Mr.  Bigelow  he  had  better  leave  it  over 
until  he  could  see  me  ;  that  whether  it  was  written  in  the 
interest  of  the  administration  or  not,  it  certainly  seemed  to 
compromise  the  administration,  and  utterly  stultify  our  posi- 
tion in  regard  to  gold  ;  especially  the  last  paragraph,  which 
was  most  illogical,  and  seemed  to  be  a  plausible  plea  for  the 
highest  possible  price  that  the  market  could  be  brought  up 
to.  I  will  do  Mr.  Bigelow  the  justice  to  say  that  he  could 
not  have  believed  that  it  came  from  any  inspired  source. 
General  Grant  had  left  the  city  on  the  20th.  This  came  to 
me  about  the  23d.  It  was  to  have  appeared  on  the  morning 
of  the  24th  ;  and  when  the  suggestion  was  made  to  Mr.  Bige- 
low that  it  was  in  my  department,  as  he  had  just  come  into 
the  office,  and  had  not  watched  our  course  on  the  subject,  it 
was  proper  to  leave  it  over,  which  he  did,  and  which  I  am  sure 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  2$  I 

he  would  not  have  done  if  he  had  believed  that  General 
Grant  had  seen  it  before  it  came  into  the  office.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  was  sent  under  false  pretences,  and  I  do  not 
think  Mr.  Bigelow  had  any  doubt,  after  the  occurrence  of 
September,  that  it  was  intended  to  be  imposed  upon  us  as  a 

semi-official  expression  by  the  President 

"  When  Mr.  Bigelow  left  our  office  a  few  days  before  the 
row  occurred  in  September,  I  thought  I  would  endeavor  to 
get  the  facts  before  the  public.  It  was  a  delicate  business 
for  the  Times  to  publish  a  full  statement  of  the  facts,  and  I 
got  the  Commercial  Advertiser  to  publish  the  interview  with 
Grant  on  the  5th  of  August,  the  results  of  which  appeared 
in  our  paper  of  the  6th,  in  the  leader,  which  was  looked  upon 
as  a  manifestation  of  the  views  of  the  President  on  the  pay- 
ment of  the  debt,  and  the  reduction  of  the  expenses.  On  the 
14th  of  October  some  of  our  neighbors  still  misrepresented 
us  as  to  our  responsibility  for  the  gold  panic.  In  the  mean- 
time there  came  out  a  statement  from  Mr.  Gould  to  the  re- 
porter of  the  Sun  that  the  article  of  the  25th  had  been  re- 
versed in  its  position  by  some  editor  in  the  office  ;  that  it 
was  not  published  as  set  up  ;  that  the  purpose  was  to  '  bull ' 
gold,  and  that  some  person  in  the  office  had  interlarded  two 
or  three  lines  so  as  to  give  it  a  different  application,  and  had 
left  out  the  closing  paragraph  altogether.  In  this  article  in 
the  Commercial  Advertiser  the  precise  changes  which  were 
made  in  the  original  article  appeared.  Mr.  Bigelow  handed 
me  the  article  and  told  me  to  do  with  it  as  I  liked.  I  told 
him  the  honest  argument  of  the  article,  if  it  meant  anything, 
meant  that  the  President  and  Secretary  did  not  mean  to  sell 
gold  and  lock  up  currency  in  the  treasury ;  that  they  would 
sell  no  more  gold  than  they  could  disburse  currency  for,  and 
that  further,  if  bonds  should  be  very  favorable,  the  Secretary 


252  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

nad  the  right  to  buy  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund  directly  with 
gold.  This  fact  is  inserted  in  the  body  of  the  article,  that  he 
might  perhaps  exchange  gold  for  5-20  bonds  direct.  There 
is  where  INIr.  Gould  said  the  argument  had  been  mutilated 
and  reversed.  I  did  it  for  two  purposes.  In  the  first  place, 
I  thought  if  the  argument  meant  anything,  it  meant  that  the 
President  and  Secretary  did  not  intend  to  lock  up  currency 
during  the  busy  season ;  and  in  the  second  place,  not  know- 
ing where  the  article  came  from,  yet  from  whatever  source 
it  originated,  I  suspected  there  might  be  from  the  statements 
of  the  last  paragraph  a  sinister  purpose  to  'bull'  gold,  so  the 
double  lead  was  taken  out  of  the  article,  and  the  tail  of  the 
article  (which  you  will  find  here)  stricken  off  and  the  article 
as  it  appears  published  on  the  25th.  The  original  article 
was  headed  *  Grant's  financial  polic3\'  Mr.  Bigelow,  after 
we  had  changed  it  to  conform  to  our  own  views,  and  to  what 
we  believed  would  be  of  service  to  the  administration,  said : 
*  Suppose  you  head  it,  as  Boutwell  has  been  brought  into  it, 
"  The  financial  policy  of  the  administration."  '  That  heading 
was  given,  and  it  so  appeared  in  the  paper  the  next  day.  I 
now  furnish  to  the  committee  the  article  as  it  was  originally 
set  up,  and  as  it  was  actually  published,  showing  what 
changes  were  made." 

Article  as  set  up  from  mantiscj-ipt,  double    Article  as  reduced  and  otherwise  changea 
leaded.  as  in  italics,  and  published  in  ordinary 

leaded  type. 

FINANCIAL  POLICY  OF  THE  ADMINISTRA- 
ORANT'S  FINANCIAL  POLICY.  TION. 
Thus  far  in  his  administration  of  the  Thus  far  in  his  administration  of  the 
government,  President  Grant  has  not  government,  President  Grant  has  not 
set  forth,  in  an  official  form,  the  policy  set  forth,  in  an  official  form,  the  policy 
by  which  he  is  governed  when  acting  by  which  he  is  governed  when  acting 
upon  fiscal  affairs.  This  utterance  can-  upon  fiscal  affairs.  This  utterance  can- 
not reasonably  be  expected  prior  to  the  not  reasonably  be  expected  prior  to  the 


BLACK    FRIDAY 


JAMES   FISK,   JR. 


255 


meeting  of  Congress,  in  December 
next.  In  his  annual  message,  and  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  we  may  expect  to  see  a  clear 
and  full  development  of  the  policy  of 
the  President  ;  and  in  the  subsequent 
acts  of  Congress  that  policy  will  be 
aided,  strengthened,  and,  perhaps,  mod- 
ified. 

In  the  mean  time  the  acts  of  the 
Administration  enable  us  to  form  de- 
cided views  of  its  policy  and  intentions. 
First.  The  President  evidently  intends 
to  pay  off  the  "  Jive-t7ventics"  as  rapidly 
as  he  may,  in  gold.  Secondly.  In  order 
to  be  able  to  make  this  payment  soon, 
the  President  is  laboring  to  largely  ap- 
preciate the  credit  of  the  government ; 
he  is  struggling  to  lift  its  securities  into 
the  high  position  occupied  by  those  of 
Great  Britain  and  France.  When  this 
end  is  measurably  attained,  the  Presi- 
dent will  then  be  able  to  negotiate  a 
loan  at  par,  in  gold,  at  4  or  4^  per 
cent.,  with  the  proceeds  of  which  to 
pay  off  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  mil- 
lions of  the  public  debt ;  thus,  by  a 
mere  saving  in  the  rate  of  interest,  les- 
sening our  annual  payments  of  interest, 
in  gold,  $25,000,000  or  $30,000,000. 
Thirdhy.  To  enable  him  to  build  up  the 
government  credit,  and  lessen  the  in- 
terest upon  the  public  debt,  the  Presi- 
dent has  sedulously  and  with  success 
labored  to  collect  the  revenues  without 
loss  or  waste,  and  with  less  expense  ; 
also  to  introduce  a  rigid  economy  into 
every  branch  of  the  public  service. 
Great  savings  have  been  realized  in  the 
Military  and  Treasury'  branches  ;  cred- 
itable savings  in  the  State  and  Interior 
Departments  have  been  effected,  and 
considerable  savings  are  hoped  for 
from  the  Navy  and  Post-Office. 

So  far  as  the  current  movements  of 
the  Treasury  are  concerned,  until  the 


meeting  of  Congress,  in  Decembei 
next.  In  his  annual  message,  and  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  we  may  expect  to  see  a  clear 
and  full  development  of  the  policy  of 
the  President ;  and  in  the  subsequent 
acts  of  Congress  that  policy  will  be 
aided,  strengthened  and,  perhaps,  mod- 
ified. 

In  the  mean  time  the  acts  of  the  Ad- 
ministration enable  us  to  form  decided 
views  of  its  policy  and  intentions. 
First.  The  President  evidently  intends 
to  pay  off  the  "five-twenties"  as  rapidly 
as  he  may,  in  gold.  Secondly.  In  order 
to  be  able  to  make  this  payment  soon, 
the  President  is  laboring  to  largely  ap- 
preciate the  credit  of  the  government  ; 
he  is  struggling  to  lift  its  securities  to 
the  level  of  the  securities  of  the  weal- 
thiest European  States.  When  this 
end  is  measurably  attained,  the  Presi- 
dent will  be  able  to  negotiate  a  loan  at 
par,  in  gold,  at  4  or  4^  per  cent.,  with 
the  proceeds  of  which  to  payoff  twelve 
or  fifteen  hundred  millions  of  the  pub- 
lic debt ;  thus  by  a  mere  saving  in  the 
rate  of  interest,  lessening  our  annual 
payments  of  interest,  in  gold,  $25,000,- 
000  or  $30,000,000.  Thirdly.  To  enable 
him  to  build  up  the  government  credit 
and  lessen  the  interest  upon  the  public 
debt,  the  President  has  sedulously  and 
with  success  labored  to  collect  the  rev- 
enues without  loss  or  waste,  and  with 
less  expense  ;  also  to  introduce  a  rigid 
economy  into  every  branch  of  the  pub- 
lic service.  Great  savings  have  been 
realized  in  the  Military  and  Treasury 
branches ;  creditable  savings  in  the 
State  and  Interior  Departments  have 
been  effected,  and  considerable  savings 
are  hoped  for  from  the  Navy  and  Post- 
Oflice. 

So  far  as  the  current  movements  of 
the  Treasury  are  concerned,  until  the 


15 


256 


LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 


crops  are  moved,  it  is  not  likely  Treas 
ury.gold  will  be  sold.  The  entire  sur- 
plus of  currency  in  the  Treasury,  on 
the  contrary,  will  be  employed  in  the 
purchase  of  bonds,  as  heretofore,  that 
money  may  be  abundant  and  cheap  at 
the  time  crops  are  to  be  paid  for  and 
moved  by  transporters  to  market.  At 
SI  time  of  the  year  so  critical  to  pro- 
ducers, the  President  will  not  withdraw 
currency  from  the  channels  of  trade 
and  commerce  ;  he  will  not  send  gold 
into  the  market  and  sell  it  for  currency 
to  lock  up  in  the  Treasury  vaults. 
Such  a  procedure  would  reduce  the 
value  of  our  entire  products  ;  to  bu}- 
and  lock  up  our  currency  noto,  and 
thus  make  money  scarce  and  dear, 
would  distress  all  of  the  producers  of 
the  country,  and  benefit  nobody  but 
usurers  and  speculators.  This  error 
will  not  be  committed.  No  adminis- 
tration can  desire  a  money  panic,  and 
thereby  low  prices  for  produce,  upon 
the  eve  of  the  fall  elections. 

The  policy  of  the  President  is,  then, 
as  revealed  by  his  acts,  to  appreciate 
the  values  of  all  government  securities 
preparatory  to  the  making  of  an  effort 
to  lessen  the  rates  of  interest  on  the 
public  debt ;  to  honestly  collect  the 
revenues ;  to  reduce  expenditures. 
This  policy,  if  successful,  will  enable 
the  administration  to  place  our  finances 
upon  a  solid  foundation,  and  to  reduce 
the  taxes. 

Such  is  the  financial  policy  of  the 
President,  as  developed  by  his  acts.  It 
is  at  once  simple  and  efficient.  By 
strengthening  our  credit  we  carry  our 
bonds  to  par  4n  gold  ;  by  becoming 
able  to  obtain  money  at  4  or  4^  per, 
cent.,  we  can  save  i^  or  2  per  cent,  per 
year  upon  our  whole  debt.  Contests 
between  government  and  bond-holders 
are  likely  to  lessen  the  value  of  bonds. 


crops  are  moved,  it  is  not  likely  Treas- 
wry  gold  will  be  sold  for  currency  to  bt 
locked  up.  The  entire  surplus  of  cur- 
rency in  the  Treasury;  on  the  contrary, 
will  be  employed  in  the  purchase  of 
bonds  as  heretofore,  that  money  may 
be  abundant  and  cheap  at  the  time 
crops  are  to  be  paid  for  and  moved  by 
transporters  to  market.  And  it  may  be 
that  further  purchases  of  bonds  will  be 
liiade  directly  with  gold.  At  a  time  of 
the  year  so  critical  to  producers,  the 
President  will  not  withdraw  currency 
from  the  channels  of  trade  and  com- 
merce ;  he  will  not  send  gold  into  the 
market  and  sell  it  for  currency  to  lock 
up  in  the  Treasury  vaults.  Such  a 
procedure  would  reduce  the  value  of 
our  entire  products  ;  to  buy  and  lock 
up  our  currency  now,  and  thus  make 
monej'  scarce  and  dear,  would  distress 
all  of  the  producers  of  the  countrj% 
and  benefit  nobody  but  usurers  and 
speculators.  This  error  will  not  be 
committed.  No  administration  can  de- 
sire a  money  panic,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, low  prices  for  produce,  upon 
the  eve  of  the  fall  elections. 

The  policy  of  the  President  is,  then, 
as  revealed  by  his  acts,  to  appreciate 
the  values  of  all  government  securities 
preparatory  to  the  making  of  an  effort 
to  lessen  the  rates  of  interest  on  the 
public  debt ;  to  honestly  collect  the 
revenues ;  to  reduce  expenditures. 
This  polic}',  if  successful,  will  enable 
the  administration  to  place  our  finances 
upon  a  solid  foundation,  and  to  reduce 
the  taxes. 

Such  is  the  financial  policy  of  the 
President,  as  developed  by  his  acts. 
It  is  at  once  simple  and  efficient.  By 
strengthening  our  credit  we  carry  our 
bonds  to  par  in  gold  ;  by  becoming 
able  to  obtain  money  at  4  or  4*^  per 
cent.,  we  can  save  i^  or  2  per  cent,  per 


JAMES   FISK,   JR. 


257 


and  destroy  our  hope  of  reducing  the 
rate  of  interest  from  6  to  4  per  cent, 
per  annum.  The  policy  of  the  Presi- 
dent is  wisest  and  best.  It  is  honest, 
simple  and  statesman-like.  It  will 
succeed  if  adhered  to  and  vigorously 
maintained. 

[It  may  be  objected,  that  the  disburse- 
ment of  currency  to  the  largest  con- 
venient extent,  and  the  retention  in  the 
Treasury  of  unnecded  gold,  will  cause 
gold  to  rise  again  to  135  or  140.  Sup- 
pose it  should  thus  result.  This  would 
secure  large  shipments  of  breadstuflfs, 
provisions,  butter,  cheese,  petroleum, 
cotton,  tobacco,  etc.,  at  increased 
prices ;  and,  to  the  amount  shipped, 
would  save  to  our  people  an  equal 
value  of  gold.  Hence,  as  gold  accum- 
ulated, the  less  would  be  the  premium 
upon  it  ;  high  prices  for  gold  before  the 
sale  of  our  products  would  cause  lower 
prices  of  gold  after  the  sale  of  exports. 
It  is  better  for  our  country  to  ship  pro- 
duce to  pay  for  our  imports  than  gold 
or  bonds.  The  objection  to  the  reten- 
tion of  gold  in  the  Treasur)-,  until  our 
productions  are  marketed,  is  unsound  ; 
for  the  retention  of  gold  will  make 
both  gold  and  the  productions  dearer 
at  the  time  of  the  sale  of  the  produc- 
tions ;  if  gold  is  not  needed  for  ship- 
ment, the  premium  on  it  would  fall. 
Large  exports  of  produce,  stimulated 
by  the  temporary  high  price  of  gold, 
would  soon  cause  gold  to  bear  a  lower 
price.  Hence,  a  high  price  for  gold, 
during  the  next  three  months,  would 
be  productive  of  great  good  to  expor- 
ters of  produce.  The  fall  of  gold  at 
this  time,  to  twenty-five  per  cent.,  would 
bring  ruin  upon  the  agricultural,  me- 
chanical, and  manufacturing  classes ; 
injurj'  to  these  would  entail  injury  up- 
on the  merchants  and  upon  laborers. 
if  gold  is  made  cheap,  it  will  be  cx- 


ycar  upon  our  whole  debt.  Contests 
between  government  and  bond-holders 
are  likely  to  lessen  the  value  of  bonds 
and  destroy  our  hope  of  reducing  the 
rate  of  interest  from  6  to  4  per  cent. 
per  annum.  The  policy  of  the  Presi- 
dent is  wisest  and  best.  It  is  honest, 
simple,  and  statesman-like.  It  will 
succeed  if  adhered  to  and  vigorously 
sustained. 


258  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

ported  ;  if  too  dear  to  export,  then 
produce  will  be  shipped  in  lieu  of  it. 
Hence,  government  will  not  so  act  as 
to  lessen  the  value  of  this  year's  abun- 
dant crop,  but  will  labor  to  increase  its 
value  and  promote  its  exportation  to 
foreign  countries.] 

Mr.  Norvel  continued. — An  article  was  published  in  the 
Times  on  the  24th  of  September,  on  the  gold  movement.  I 
have  it  here.  Mr.  Bigelow  said  to  me,  ''  You  write  an  edi- 
torial about  the  excitement ;  you  have  been  in  the  midst  of 
it ;  write  it  up."  There  had  been  two  days  of  the  excite- 
ment ;  this  was  before  the  great  panic.  On  one  of  these 
days  there  had  been  a  great  fluctuation  in  stocks.  I  wrote 
this  article,  and  gave  strong  points  of  rumors  that  were  cur- 
rent that  Fisk  had  gone  into  the  gold-room  and  wagered  any 
part  of  $50,000  that  gold  would  go  above  145  ;  this  was  the 
day  before  the  panic.     T  said  in  that  article : 

[From  the  New  York  Times,  September  24.] 
"THE   EXCITEMENT   IN   Vi^ALL  STREET." 

"  The  second  sensation  related  to  the  speculation  and  prac- 
tical ^^r«^r  in  gold.  And  here  about  3  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
afternoon  appeared  on  the  scene  the  inevitable  and  irrepressi- 
ble Fisk,  Jr.  His  presence  in  the  gold-room  was  signalized 
by  the  rapid  rise  in  gold  from  137^^  to  141  ^  per  cent.,  and 
by  the  offer  of  wagers  for  any  part  of  $50,000  that  the  price 
would  reach  145  percent.  The  other  engineers  of  the  move- 
ment were  not  idle,  nor  had  they  been  through  the  earlier 
part  of  the  day.  They  not  only  bulled  gold  with  a  will,  but 
talked  freely  of  the  warrant  which  they  had  from  Washing- 
ton that  the  government  would  not  interfere  with  them 
The  highest  official  in  the  land  was  quoted  as  being  with  them, 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  259 

and  he,  of  course,  controls  the  action  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  and  the  New  York  Assistant  Treasurer.  Although 
this  must  have  been  known  to  be  false,  there  were  abundant 
rumors  and  suspicions  insidiously  spread  around  the  street  to 
create  the  belief  or  fear  with  good  men  that  the  administra- 
tion would  not  interpose  by  further  sales  of  gold  from  the 
Treasury,  or  extra  purchases  of  United  States  5-20S  in  ex- 
change for  gold.  Among  these  rumors  was  one  that  the 
Gould-Fisk  party  were  about  to  secure  the  services  and  in- 
fluence of  Mr.  Corbin,  (the  brother-in-law  of  the  President,) 
as  president  of  the  Tenth  National  Bank,  which  they  have 
recently  purchased,  in  connection  with  Messrs.  Tweed  and 
Sweeny.  The  consideration  was  to  be  ^25,000  per  annum, 
equal  to  President  Grant's  own  salary.  This  was  too  mon- 
strous for  serious  belief  We  have  reason  to  know  it  is 
wholly  out  of  the  chapter  of  probabilities  with  Mr.  Corbin 
himself. 

"  Yesterday  the  Central  and  Hudson  affair  was  compara- 
tively quiet,  but  the  gold  sensation  was  renewed  with  greatly 
increased  intensity.  The  Gould-Fisk  brokers  bid  the  price 
up  to  144  per  cent.  The  party,  without  demanding  their 
gold,  compelled  the  sellers  and  borrowers  who  had  contracts 
with  them  to  place  five  or  seven  per  cent,  additional  advance 
in  price  in  their  own  hands,  or  else  settle  at  the  price  of  the 
day. 

"  This  scene  may  be  amusing  enough  to  our  readers,  as  a 
Wall  street  fight  between  bull  and  bear,  but  it  has  a  more 
serious  aspect.  The  business  of  the  Produce  Exchange,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  ordinary  foreign  exchanges  of  the  market, 
are  paralyzed  by  the  heavy  rise  and  corner  in  gold  tlirough  a 
sheer  gambling  operation.  The  government  is  scandalized  by 
false  rumors  of  complicity ;  the  public  credit  damaged  by  the 


26o  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

fall  in  the  funds,  and  the  general  trade  of  the  country  agitated 
and  unduly  alarmed  by  a  panic  in  money  coincident  with,  if 
not  directl}'  superinduced  b}^,  the  lock-up  in  gold.  When  or 
where  the  trouble  is  to  end  we  have  no  present  means  of  tell- 
ing." 

In  order  to  make  his  Times  article  as  useful  as  possible, 
Jay  Gould  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Freasur}'- : 

"Office  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company," 
"  Presidenfs  Office,  Nczv  York,  A  ngiist  30,  1 869. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — If  the  New  York  Times  correctly  re- 
flects your  financial  policy  during  the  next  three  or  four 
months,  viz :  to  unloose  the  currency  balance  at  the  treas- 
ury, or  keep  it  at  the  lowest  possible  figure,  and  also  to  re- 
frain during  the  same  period  from  selling  or  putting  gold  on 
the  market,  thus  preventing  a  depression  of  the  premium  at 
a  season  of  the  year  when  the  bulk  of  our  agricultural  prod- 
ucts have  to  be  marketed,  then  I  think  the  country  pecu- 
liarly fortunate  in  having  a  financial  head  who  can  take  a 
broad  view  of  the  situation,  and  who  realizes  the  importance 
of  settling  the  large  balance  of  trade  against  us,  by  the  extent 
of  our  agricultural  and  mineral  products  instead  of  bonds 
and  gold.  You  no  doubt  fully  appreciate  the  fact  that  in  the 
export  of  breadstuffs  to  European  markets,  we  have  on  our 
side  high-priced  labor  and  long  rail  transportation  to  com- 
pete with  the  cheap  labor  and  water  transportation  of  the 
great  grain-producing  countries  of  the  Black  and  Mediter- 
ranean seas,  and  it  is  only  by  making  gold  high  and  scarce 
that  the  difference  is  equalized,  and  we  are  enabled  to  com- 
pete in  the  London  and  Liverpool  markets.  It  is  not  merely 
the  agricultural  and  producing  classes  all  over  the  country, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  261 

north,  west  and  south,  that  are  enriched  by  your  policy  of 
furnishing  a  foreign  market  for  the  surplus  products  of  the 
country,  at  good  and  remunerative  prices,  but  as  well  the 
manufacturing  and  commercial  interest.  When  the  former 
classes  are  prosperous  they  buy  and  consume  liberally  ;  thus 
bringing  prosperity  and  wealth  to  the  latter  interest.  This 
policy  will  also  greatly  benefit  the  vast  railway  interests — 
which  can  only  prosper  when  the  general  business  of  the 
country  is  prosperous. 

"  I  sincerely  believe  that  when  the  fruits  of  your  policy 
come  to  be  practically  realized,  all  classes,  the  poor  as  well 
as  the  rich,  will  accord  your  services  a  generous  appre- 
ciation. 

"  With  many  apologies  for  thus  troubling  you,  I  remain 
yours,  respectfully,  ,.  j^^Y  GoULD. 

"  Hon.  Geo.  S.  Boutv^^ell, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  WasJiington,  D.  C 

To  this  the  Secretary  gave  a  non-committal  and  formal 
reply. 

About  the  date  of  the  above  letter,  the  President  wrote  to 
Secretary  Boutwell,  referring  to  the  financial  condition  of 
the  country,  and  suggesting  that  it  would  not  be  wise  to  sell 
gold  in  too  large  amounts,  to  force  down  the  price  while  the 
crops  were  moving,  as  it  might  then  embarrass  the  West. 
On  receipt  of  this  letter,  September  4th,  the  Sccretar}-,  then 
at  his  home  in  Massachusetts,  telegraphed  to  the  Assistant 
Secretary  at  Washington  not  to  sell  an}-  gold  in  addition  to 
the  amount  required  for  the  sinking  fund.  By  some  means 
the  information  contained  in  this  dispatch,  and  the  letter 
which  prompted  it,  reached  the  "  bull "  clique.  On  the  3d 
and  4th  of  September  gold  began  to  rise  rapidly,  and  on  the 


262  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

6th  it  touched  137^.  Gould  had  been  all  along  a  heavy 
buyer,  but  his  associates  became  alarmed,  for  United  States 
bonds  in  Europe  were  becoming  daily  firmer  and  firmer,  the 
crop  prospect  was  good,  comparatively  little  gold  was  ex- 
ported, on  the  contrary  it  came  pouring  in  from  all  quarters, 
and  was  even  returning  from  Europe.  Gould  himself  began  to 
experience  the  general  fear.  He  had  bought  more  than  he 
intended  to  buy.  On  his  examination  he  said  that  it  was  not 
the  plan  of  himself  and  associates,  in  their  efforts  to  advance 
the  price  of  gold  for  the  purpose  of  faciUtating  the  export 
of  the  crops,  to  crush  the  market.  In  other  words,  when 
asked  whether  he  had  not  designed  to  buy  all  the  gold  in 
the  city,  and  then  to  buy  as  much  more  as  the  "shorts" 
would  agree  to  deUver,  and  then  force  these  to  buy  back  at 
his  own  price,  he  answered,  "  No.  In  the  spring,"  said  he, 
"  I  put  up  gold  from  32  to  38  and  40,  with  only  about 
$7,000,000 ;  but  all  these  fellows  went  in  and  sold  short,  so 
that  in  order  to  keep  it  up,  I  had  to  buy  or  else  back  down 
and  show  the  white  feather.  They  would  sell  it  to  you  all 
the  time.  I  never  intended  to  buy  more  than  four  or  five 
miUions  of  gold,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  put 
it  up  to  40  at  one  time.  I  had  no  idea  of  cornering  it.  I 
always  made  it  plenty.  I  had  in  view  all  the  time  the  hght- 
ening  of  prices.  I  thought  to  put  it  up  so  as  to  start  busi- 
ness, and  then  quietly  to  sell  mine  off. I  did  not  expect 

to  hold  gold  to  40.  My  theory  was  that  if  gold  could  stay 
at  40  or  45  until  after  the  ist  of  January,  we  could  export 
about  S  100,000,000  of  produce,  and  that  would  turn  the  cur- 
rent of  gold  in  our  favor,  and  gold  would  flow  in  from  Paris 
and  London.  That  would  create  a  downward  tendency  in 
gold,  and  it  would  fall  like  a  ripe  apple.  That  would  have 
been  a  natural,  legitimate  commercial  decline.     I  think  that 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  263 

gold  woi.-.ld  have  gone  to  25  or  20,  and  business  be  prosper- 
ous all  the  time,  because  we  should  have  turned  the  balance 
of  trade  in  our  favor  and  brought  gold  here  from  abroad. 

That  was  my  theory I  commenced  selling  originally 

at  35,  and  intended  quietly  to  get  out  of  it  at  37  to  40.  But 
what  put  gold  up  so  high  was  that  these  bears  got  fright- 
ened, and  they  commenced  jumping  over  each  other's  shoul- 
ders for  it.  The  worst  panics  ever  produced  arc  bear  pan- 
ics. These  people  know  when  they  go  to  sleep  that  they 
have  been  selling  what  they  have  not;  and  when  they  begin 
to  rush  in  to  cover,  that  puts  up  the  price.  Gold  went  from 
42  to  60  that  day  (Black  Friday)  without  a  dollar  changing 
hands.     The  bears  marked  it  right  up  for  themselves." 

Whatever  may  have  been  Jay  Gould's  reasons  for  endeav- 
ing  to  force  gold  up,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  he  used  his 
tact  and  talent  to  the  best  advantage.  Failing  to  gain  any 
information  from  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington, 
he  made  General  Butterfield  his  friend  by  buying  and  car- 
rying for  him  during  August  and  September,  on  the  Gen- 
/  oral's  order  and  for  his  benefit,  $1,500,000  of  gold,  and  by 
proposing  joint  action  with  him  in  the  purchase  of  a  con- 
trolling share  of  the  Tenth  National  Bank  of  New  York. 
He  bought  and  carried  for  Corbin  a  million  and  a  half  of 
gold  in  two  lots,  in  order  to  possess  himself  of  Corbin's 
boasted  knowledge  of  the  President's  views  and  intended 
policy,  and,  as  Corbin  admitted,  paid  him  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember $25,000  cash,  the  profit  on  the  smaller  lot. 

In  addition  t(,)  the  influence  which  he  had  obtained  by  buy- 
ing Corbin,  Gould  asserted  that  the  President  had  become  a 
convert  to  his  theory  of  advancing  the  price  of  gold  to  aid 
the  business  of  the  country ;  and  declared  that  General 
Grant  had  been  heard  to  tell  his  brother-in-law  that  the  or 


264  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

der  to  sell  "-old  during  September  had  been  countermanded. 
Corbin  swore  that  he  never  heard  the  President  make  such 
a  statement,  and  Mr.  Boutwell  testified  that  the  President 
gave  no  order  on  the  subject.  Yet  with  all  his  efforts  to  de- 
preciate the  currency,  Gould  was  not  able  to  hold  the  price 
of  g-old  above  135  and  136  until  the  middle  of  September. 
Woodward  and  Kimber  had  deserted  him,  and  he  tried  again 
to  secure  the  aid  and  co-operation  of  James  Fisk,  Jr.  But 
let  Fisk  tell  the  whole  of  the  gold  story  as  he  told  it  to  the 
Investigating  Committee  in  January,  1870: 

"  I  was  associated  with  no  one  in  buying,  seUing,  or  loan- 
ing gold  during  the  gold  panic  week.  I  think  all  the  interests 
I  had  were  personal.  That  question,  however,  may  admit 
of  some  explanation  on  my  part.  I  could  say  that  no  one 
was  interested  with  me  personally,  or  I  might  convey  a 
clearer  impression  to  the  committee  of  my  exact  position  by 
going  into  an  explanation.  At  the  outset,  I  may  say  that 
the  transactions  Of  Mr.  Gould  and  myself  are  joint,  and  that 
our  usual  custom  is  to  have  no  one  else  with  us.  At  the 
time  he  started  in  to  purchase  gold,  if  I  recollect  right,  he  was 
with  some  other  parties,  perhaps  with  Woodward  and  Kim- 
ber, in  the  street.  They  spoke  to  me  about  it,  and  he  said, 
I  think,  something  to  me  about  buying  some  gold.  I  replied 
that  I  did  not  believe  in  it;  that  I  believed  the  pressure  was 
against  us  on  the  street.  At  that  time  I  was  called  away  for 
three  or  four  days ;  and  when  I  came  back,  he  had  started 
in  with  Messrs.  Kimber  and  Woodward,  as  I  understood, 
and  had  commenced  buying  at  about  37  or  38.  You  have 
had  Mr.  Gould  before  this  committee,  and  have  probably 
ascertained  that  he  is  rather  a  peculiar  man.  Gold  having 
settled  down  to  35,  and  I  not  having  cared  to  touch  it,  he 
was  a  little  sensitive  on  the  subject,  feeUng  as  if  he  would 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  265 

rather  take  his  losses  without  saying  anything  about  it.  It 
went  along  in  that  way  for  three  or  four  weeks,  when  one 
day  he  said  to  me,  '  Don't  you  think  gold  has  got  to  the  bot- 
tom ?'  I  replied  that  I  did  not  see  the  profit  in  buying  gold 
unless  you  have  got  into  a  position  where  you  can  control 
the  market.  lie  then  said  he  had  bought  quite  a  large 
amount  of  gold,  and  I  judged  from  his  conversation  that  he 
wanted  me  to  go  into  the  movement  and  help  strengthen  the 
market.  Upon  that  I  went  into  the  market  and  bought.  I 
should  say  that  was  about  the  15th  or  i6th  of  September.  I 
bought  at  that  time  about  seven  or  eight  millions,  I  think. 
This,  I  think,  is  the  only  case  in  which  we  deviated  from  our 
usual  custom  of  making  up  a  settlement  and  dividing  the 
results.  It  so  happened  that  I  started  out  with  Heath  &  Co. 
The  transactions  of  Smith,  Gould  &  Martin,  owing  to  the 
excitement  that  occurred,  I  think  have  never  been  fully  set- 
tled. At  any  rate  Mr.  Gould  and  I  have  never  passed  a 
word  as  to  whether  I  was  to  be  interested  in  his  profits  or 
losses,  and  there  was  no  understanding  that  I  was  or  was 
not.  When  the  settlement  is  made  in  full,  if  there  should  be 
a  loss,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  help  him  bear  it ;  and  if  there 
are  any  profits,  I  should  not  say  no  to  a  proposition  to  di- 
vide them  with  him.  That  is  not  my  nature.  (Laughter.) 
I  came  into  this  movement  simply  to  strengthen  the  market. 
I  came  in  individually,  and  placed  my  own  margins.  There 
was  no  understanding  between  us,  any  more  than  a  general 
understanding  tha't  we  did  business  together. 

Q.  (by  Mr,  Garfield). — How  much  did  3'ou  buy,  or  order  to 
be  bought,  during  the  week  of  the  panic  ? 

Fisk. — I  should  think  the  aggregate  of  gold  that  I  bought 
for  myself  during  that  week  was,  perhaps,  ten  or  twelve  mil- 
lions  I  know  Abel  Corbin.     He  had  no  interest  in 


266  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

my  operations ;  but  I  know  of  an  interest  that  he  had  in  the 
market  from  information  which  I  derived  from  him,  and  from 
information  derived  from  Mr.  Gould. 

Q. — What  occurred  at  an  interview,  in  Mr.  Heath's  office, 
between  you  and  Albert  Speyers,  on  the  23rd  of  September? 

Fisk. — That  I  can,  perhaps,  give  more  clearly  by  referring 
to  memoranda  which  I  have  here.  Let  me  say  that  the  firm 
of  William  Belden  &  Co.  was  composed  of  William  Belden, 
George  Hooker,  and  Andrew  McKinley.  Mr.  Hooker  mar- 
ried a  sister  of  mine,  and  I  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  Mr.  Bel- 
den on  Wall  street  for  three  or  four  years.  At  one  time  we 
were  in  business  together On  the  afternoon  of  Thurs- 
day, the  day  before  Black  Friday,  Mr.  Gould  and  I  went 
down  to  Belden's  back  office.  We  went  there  because  it 
was  a  little  more  out  of  the  way  than  Wall  street.  It  is  on 
Broadway.  I  there  gave  some  orders  to  Mr.  Heath,  and  to 
Smith,  Gould  and  Martin,  brokers,  that  afternoon.  That 
was  the  first  interview,  I  think,  I  had  with  Mr.  Belden  in  re- 
gard to  gold.  That  afternoon,  when  I  came  out,  Mr.  Belden 
said,  "  I  will  meet  you  at  the  Opera  House  to-night."  You 
must  bear  in  mind  that  we  had  no  idea  then  of  the  position 
we  were  drifting  into.  I  had  an  idea  that  it  might  result  in 
a  transaction  of  fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  gold,  which  was 
not  a  very  large  amount  of  gold  for  us  to  carry.  I  met  Mr. 
Belden  at  the  Opera  House  that  night  at  8  o'clock.  He  said 
to  me,  "  Evidentl}^  you  have  got  a  corner  on  this  gold  market, 
and  I  want  to  buy  some  gold  to-morrow.  I  can  just  as  well 
carry  it  as  not.  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  what  to  do."  I 
replied  to  him,  "  Mr.  Belden,  the  great  motto  on  which  we 
have  acted  is  to  do  our  own  business  ourselves,  and  then,  if 
anything  happens,  there  arc  no  lame  ducks  to  take  care  of 
but  ourselves.     I  do  not  see  that  any  harm  is  likely  to  come 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  267 

of  it  if  you  want  to  buy  gold,  and  if  you  want  to  give  some 
orders  I  will  attend  to  them."  He  said,  "  I  will  bring  a 
broker  to  you,  and  you  can  give  him  the  orders."  I  said, 
"  If  you  want  me  to  do  anything  for  you,  come  to  me  in  the 
morning."  The  next  morning  he  gave  me  this  order:  "  Sep- 
tember 24.  Dear  Sir,  I  hereby  authorize  you  to  order  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  gold  on  my  account  during  this  day,  to 
the  extent  you  may  deem  advisable,  and  to  report  the  same 
to  me  as  early  as  possible.  It  is  to  be  understood  that  the 
profits  of  such  order  arc  to  belong  entirely  to  me,  and  I  will, 
of  course,  bear  any  losses  resulting.  Yours,  William  Belden. 
James  Fisk,  Jr."  In  the  morning,  when  we  came  down  town, 
we  went  to  Mr.  Heath's  back  office.  I  should  think,  about 
half-past  ten,  Mr.  Belden  came  into  the  office  and  said,  "  I 
want  to  introduce  to  you  Mr.  Speyers.  Mr.  Speyers  will 
receive  from  you  any  orders  for  purchases  or  sales  of  gold 
on  my  account."  I  think  there  were  two  or  three  parties  in 
the  room,  who  heard  this  conversation.  Two  of  my  own 
parties,  Kingsley  and  Hicks,  and  two  or  three  persons  whom 
I  had  taken  down  to  keep  people  out  of  the  room,  were  with- 
in hearing I  think  gold  was  then  about  43.     I  said  to 

Mr.  Speyers,  while  Mr.  Belden  stood  there,  that  Smith, 
Gould  and  Martin  had  just  started  for  the  market,  through 
Mr.  Willard  ;  that  we  were  buying  gold  up  to  45.  He 
started  out.  I  should  think  he  was  gone  half  an  hour;  he 
then  came  back,  and  said  he  did  not  get  any  at  that  price. 
By  that  time  gold  had  jumped  to  50.  He  came  back  and 
said  "  Smith,  Gould  and  Martin's  brokers  are  buying  gold  at 
50."  I  said  yes,  and  he  started  right  down  again.  He  came 
in,  stating  that  he  had  bought  about  seven  or  eight  millions. 
It  was  then  about  half-past  eleven.  During  this  time  gold 
had  been  up  to  63  and  64,  and  gone  back  to  50.     He  said  he 


268  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

had  bought  gold  at  60;  he  was  in  a  condition  of  great  excite- 
ment ;  he  said  he  had  bought  gold  at  60  when  it  was  seUing 
for  50.  I  said  to  him,  "  You  have  gone  crazy."  "  Well,"  he 
said,  "  I  do  not  know  where  I  am."  I  told  him  he  had  better 
keep  quiet.  As  I  afterward  understood,  Mr.  Belden,  seeing 
the  position  he  was  in,  told  him  to  go  into  the  market  and 
buy  gold  up  to  60,  and  hold  it  there.  That  was  about  the  last 
time  I  saw  Mr.  Speyers  for  two  or  three  weeks ;  I  think  he 
was  in  the  office  some  two  or  three  times  that  morning.  He 
went  back  to  the  market,  and  some  of  our  people  told  me  he 
was  on  the  curb-stone,  buying  at  60,  when  gold  was  selling 
for  34.  I  have  been  in  Wall  street  for  a  long  time,  and  been 
in  the  habit  of  seeing  people  very  much  excited.  I  have  seen 
respectable  people  out  in  the  streets  v/ith  their  hats  off, 
seemingly  regardless  of  everything  ;  but  my  opinion  of 
Speyers,  that  afternoon,  was  that  he  was  as  crazy  as  a  loon. 
The  excitement  then  had  got  so  high  that,  not  desiring  to 
stay  there  any  longer,  Mr.  Gould,  Mr.  Heath,  and  myself, 
went  out  by  a  side-door,  took  a  carriage,  and  drove  up  to 
our  office ;  and  that  was  the  whole  of  our  transactions  for 
this  day. 

Q. — What  was  your  object  in  putting  up  gold  that  day  ? 

Fisk. — We  had  no  object  at  all.  We  had  intended  to  put 
it  up  to  45  ;  that  was  the  point  we  had  decided  upon. 

General  Garfield. — Please  state  in  your  own  way,  Mr.  Fisk, 
what  your  object  was  in  pursuing  the  policy  you  did  ? 

Fisk. — Before  my  starting  in  for  the  purchase  of  this,  gold, 
and  as  far  back  as  the  time  when  General  Grant  went  to 
Boston,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Peace  Jubilee,  which  was  in 
June  ;  he  went  over  on  one  of  our  boats,  and  we  went  with  him. 

"  We  have  emploved  on  the  Erie  road  some  twenty  thou- 
sand men,  all  told ;  a  stock  of  eight  hundred  locomotives, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  269 

with  the  otiier  equipments  of  the  road  on  a  corresponding 
scale.     I  am  aware  of  no  way  in  which  these  men  and  equip- 
ments can  be  used  to  advantage,  unless  the  crops  come  for 
ward  from  the  West.     The  actual  amount  of  transportation 
due  us  on  the  moving  of  the  crops  would  be  about  three  and 
a  half  million  dollars.     Now,  if  these  crops  should  be  held 
over  and  come  on  late  in  the  spring,  they  would  come  right 
on  the  transportation   of  the  mercantile   people,  when   we 
could  not  carry  the  whole  of  them,  and  they  would   seek 
other  channels,  canals,  etc.,  while  we  would  lose  the  benefit; 
or,  again,  if  they  came  forward  very  early  in  the  fall,  it  would 
be  at  a  time  when  we  were  doing  a  large  business  in  package 
goods  for  the  merchants,  \vhich  pays  better  remunerative 
prices  than  produce.     Our  policy,  therefore,  is  to  encourage 
the  crops  to  move  forward  at  a  time  when  other  trade  is 
quiet.      I  have  been   with  the  Erie  road  now  some  three 
years,  and  during  my  connection  with  it  in  the  falls  of  1866, 
1867,  and  1868,  while  the  crops  have  been  coming  forward, 
gold  has  ranged  from  41  to  45,  and  our  freights  were  full  all 
the  time.     When  we  began  to  figure  at  the  precise  position 
in  which  we  were  in  regard  to  these  freights  for  the  last  fall, 
we  found  that,  unless  our  Western  produce  moved  eastward 
early,  the  foreign  market  would  be  supplied  from  the  Medi- 
terranean, the  Black  Sea,  and  all  that  section  of  country. 
We  had  lying  upon  our  table  advices  of  three  hundred  sail 
of  vessels,  with  wheat,  on  its  way  from  these  waters.     Our 
cars  were  at  that  time  doing  a  fair  package  business,  but  w^e 
were  doing  none  of  the  produce  trade  at  all.     It  was  of  vital 
consequence  that  our  large  railroad  stock  and  steamers,  run- 
ning from  Buffalo  for  us,  should  get  this  trade  started.     If" 
we  could  have  this  produce  trade  of  three  and  a  half  millions, 
with  all  the  facilities  we  had  for  carrying  it,  about  a  couple 


2/0  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

of  millions  would  be  clear  money,  which,  in  carrying  on  our 
road,  is  too  large  an  item  to  let  go,  if  we  can  help  it. 

"  So,  on  our  passage  over  to  Boston  with  General  Grant,  we 
endeavored  to  ascertain  what  his  position  in  regard  to  the 
finances  was.  We  v/ent  down  to  supper  about  nine  o'clock, 
intending,  while  we  were  there,  to  have  this  thing  pretty 
thoroughly  talked  up,  and,  if  possible,  to  relieve  him  from 
any  idea  of  putting  the  price  of  gold  down,  for,  if  his  pol- 
icy was  such  as  to  permit  gold  to  go  down  to  25,  our 
transportation  would  have  been  snapped  right  up.  We 
talked  there  until  about  half-past  twelve.  When  we  first 
began  to  talk,  I  could  see  that  he  was  for  returning  to  a 
specie  basis  ;  I  remember  the  remark  he  made  that  we  might 
as  well  tap  the  bubble  at  once  as  at  any  other  time,  saying 
that  it  had  got  to  come  to  that.  That  was  in  the  first  part 
of  the  conversation.  He  entered  into  the  conversation  with 
a  good  "deal  of  spirit,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  he  was 
individually  paying  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the  finances, 
which  he  would  to  a  certain  extent  control,  so  far  as  the 
action  of  the  government  was  concerned.  That  being  his 
idea,  it  looked  as  if  it  was  the  policy  which  we  should  have 
to  work  up  to  in  the  fall.  I  know  that  when  we  got  to  Bos- 
ton, Mr.  Gould  and  myself  made  up  our  minds  that  the 
prospect  did  not  look  promising. 

"  When  we  got  back  to  New  York,  the  next  thing  we  did  was 
to  write  to  Mr.  Boutwell  something  in  regard  to  the  matter. 
I  think  it  was  sometime  in  August  that  General  Grant  started 
to  go  to  Newport.  I  then  went  down  to  see  him  ;  I  had  seen 
him  before,  but  not  feeling  as  thoroughly  acquainted  as  I 
desired  for  this  purpose,  I  took  a  letter  of  introduction  from 
Mr.  Gould,  in  which  it  was  written  that  there  were  three 
hundred  sail  of  vessels  then  on  the  Mediterranean  from  the 


JAMES   FISK,   ]R.  273 

Black  Sea,  with  grain  to  supply  the  Liverpool  market.  Gold 
was  then  about  34.  If  it  continued  at  that  price,  we  had 
very  little  chance  of  carrying  forward  the  crop  during  the 
fall.  I  know  that  we  felt  very  nervous  about  it ;  I  talked  with 
General  Grant  on  the  subject,  and  endeavored,  as  far  as  I 
could,  to  convince  him  that  his  policy  was  one  that  would 
only  bring  destruction  on  us  all.  Me  then  asked  me  when 
we  should  have  an  interview,  and  we  agreed  upon  the  time. 
He  said,  '  During  that  time  I  will  see  Mr.  Boutwell,  or  have 
him  there.'  Now,  then,  gold  had  continued  to  go  down, 
until  it  sold  for  130  or  132,  though  when  the  crops  began  to 
move  forward,  I  knew  that  gold  would  work  up  again  with- 
out the  necessity  of  buying  to  bring  it  up.  I  did  not  like 
the  looks  of  affairs  then.  It  was  upon  that  theory  that  Mr 
Gould  had  commenced  to  purchase  gold.  I  told  him  that  1 
did  not  think  the  skies  looked  clear  enough  to  go  into  that 
operation,  but  he  started  to  buy  gold  with  a  firm  conviction 
that  there  was  a  short  interest  in  the  market,  and  I  have  no 
other  idea  than  that  it  was  his  conviction  that  he  could  put 
up  gold  to  45,  if  he  felt  any  sort  of  confidence  that  he  would 
not  come  into  competition  with  gold  sold  by  the  government. 
The  theory  was  that  it  w^as  safe  to  buy  gold  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  up  the  price,  to  enable  us  to  secure  this  trans- 
portation for  our  road,  and  in  the  course  of  the  operation  we 
would  get  rid  of  our  gold  without  loss;  but  the  thing  began 
to  look  scary  to  me,  and  I  did  not  go  into  the  transaction 
until  I  considered  that  Mr.  Gould  was  undertaking  to  carry 
a  pretty  heavy  burden,  when  I  said  that,  of  course,  m  v  entire 
resources  were  at  his  disposal.  There  was  never  any  under- 
standing regarding  there  being  any  corner  in  gold,  nor  had 
I  ever  had  a  word  with  any  human  being,  except  Mr.  Corbin, 
on  this  subject.  Mr.  Gould  started  in  again  on  the  17th  of 
16 


274  LIFE   AND   TIMES   Ol-' 

September,  and,  seeing  his  position,  I  said,  '  I  will  join  you.' 
During  the  week  before  there  had  been  a  little  coldness  be- 
tween us,  which  did  not  often  exist,  for  the  reason  that  he 
had  taken  upon  himself  a  pretty  heavy  load,  which  he  did 
not  Avant  me  to  share,  and,  therefore,  he  was  not  in  the  habit 
of  saying  anything  about  it.  I  remember  the  morning  I 
started  in  that  I  illustrated  his  position  by  the  story  of  a  man 
who  goes  out  on  a  spring  morning  to  yoke  his. oxen.  Put- 
ting the  great  elm  bow  on  the  neck  of  Brindle,  and  holding 
the  other  end  of  the  yoke,  he  undertakes,  by  main  force,  to 
carry  the  yoke  and  draw  Brindle  over  until  he  can  yoke  Star, 
and  I  described  Mr.  Gould  as  being  in  pretty  much  the  same 
condition.  He  had  a  very  heavy  load  to  carr}^  He  would 
not  have  invited  me  to  help  him,  but  I  concluded  I  would 
help  him  to  draw  Brindle  over.  In  the  first  place,  however, 
I  wanted  to  ascertain  exactly  how  he  stood,  and  I  said  to 
him:  'How  much  gold  have  you  got?'  I  said  to  him  that 
it  was  my  firm  conviction  that,  if  v/e  bought  gold  up,  the 
government  would  unload  their  gold  unto  us.  Said  he, 
'That's  all  fixed.  I  suppose  3rou' have  seen  nothing  to  con- 
vince you  of  the  fact.'  General  Grant  was  then  in  the  city. 
It  has  always  been  our  policy  never  to  mix  in  politics,  unless 
it  is  in  our  business ;  but  Gould  said  to  me  that  morning 
'This  matter  is  all  fixed  up  ;  Butterficld  is  all  right ;  Corbin 
has  got  Butterfield  all  right ;  and  Corbin  has  got  Grant  fixed 
all  right.'  That,  in  his  opinion,  they  were  interested  together. 
That  was  a  point  I  had  not  taken  into  consideration ;  .1  did 
presume  Mr.  Corbin  had  prevailed  upon  General  Grant  to 
make  him  believe  that  45  was  the  proper  point  at  which  to 
carry  off  this  crop.  Up  to  that  time  I  did  not  believe  that 
General  Grant,  or  anybody  connected  with  him,  had  any  in- 
terest in  the  movement  whatever;  but  it  startled  me,  when  it 


jAMi:3  fi;.;k,  jr.  275 

was  suggested  riuU  Grant  \vas  in  this  movement,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  2:0  ri"-ht  around  and  see  Corbin.  I  had  known  him 
before,  through  a  son-in-law  of  his,  by  the  name  of  Cather- 
wood,  whom  1  had  met  in  railroading;  but  I  said  to  Gould: 
'  You  give  me  a  letter  to  him,  so  that  he  will  talk  confiden- 
tially with  me,'  He  did  so,  and  I  went  to  Mr.  Corbin  ;  when 
I  met  him,  he  talked  very  shy  about  the  matter  at  first,  but 
finally  came  right  out,  and  told  me  that  Mrs.  Grant  had  an 
interest ;  that  five  hundred  thousand  of  gold  had  been  taken 
by  Mr.  Gould  at  31  and  32,  which  had  been  sold  at  37;  that 
Mr.  Corbin  held  for  himself  about  two  millions  of  gold,  five 
hundred  thousand  of  which   was  for  Mrs.  Grant,  and  five 

hundred  thousand  for  Porter I  did  not  ask  whether 

it  was  General  Porter  or  not.  I  remember  the  name  of  Por- 
ter. This  was  given  out  very  slow.  He  let  out  just  as  fast 
as  I  did.  When  he  found  that  Gould  had  told  me  about  the 
same  thing,  I  said :  '  Now,  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with 
your  transactions  in  one  way  or  the  other;  but  you  can  make 
your  pathway  clear  and  straight  by  emptying  it  all  out  to 
me,  because  Mr.  Gould  and  myself  stand  together.  We  have 
no  secrets  from  each  other ;  we  have  embarked  in  a  scheme 
that  looks  like  one  of  large  magnitude.  Mr.  Gould  has  lost, 
as  the  thing  stands  now,  and  it  looks  as  if  it  might  be  pretty 
serious  business  before  getting  it  straight  again.  The  whole 
success  depends  upon  whether  the  government  will  unload 
unto  us  or  not.'  He  says:  'You  need  not  have  the  least 
fear.'  I  said  :  '  I  want  to  know  if  what  Mr.  Gould  has  told 
me  is  true  ;  I  want  to  know  whether  you  have  sent  this  $25,000 
to  Washington,  as  he  states.'  He  then  told  me  that  he  had 
sent  it ;  that  Mr.  Gould  had  sold  $500,000  of  gold  belonging 
to  Mrs.  Grant,  which  cost  33,  for  37,  or  something  in  that 
neighborhood,  leaving  a  balance  in  her  favor  of  about  $27,000, 


Qy6  LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF 

and  tint  a  check  for  $25,000  had  been  sent.  Said  I :  *  Mr 
Corbin,  what  can  you  show  me  that  goes  still  further  than 
your  talk?'  *  Oh,  well,'  the  old  man  said,  'I  cannot  show 
)'Ou  anything;  but,'  said  he,  'it's  all  right.'  He  talked 
freely,  and  repeated,  '  I  tell  you  it  is  all  right.'  When 
I  went  away  from  there,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  Corbin 
had  told  me  the  truth.  Whether  he  had  taken  money  or 
not — whether  he  had  lied  about  that  part  of  it  or  not — I 
made  up  my  mind  that  either  through  speculation,  or  for  the 
good  of  the  country  in  moving  these  crops,  the  sale  of  gold, 
which  was  to  have  taken  place  in  two  or  three  weeks,  in 
October,  was  stopped  for  October,  either  upon  one  basis  or 
the  other;  either  from  motives  of  personal  interest,  or  for 
the  best  welfare  of  the  country.  I  came  out  with  that 
conclusion.  In  the  evening,  Mr.  Corbin  came  round  to 
the  Opera  House,  and  I  had  another  interview  with  him 
there." 

Q. — Fix  that  date,  as  near  as  you  can  ? 

Fisk. — I  should  sa}^  if  it  did  not  occur  on  Sunday,  that  it 
was  about  the  21st  of  September;  it  was  either  Monday  or 
Tuesday  night.  We  talked  that  evening,  and  Mr.  Gould 
went  home  with  him  that  night.  In  the  morning,  when  Mr. 
Gould  came  down,  I  was  over  the  river,  and  came  into  the 
office  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  had  no  inter 
course  with  Mr.  Gould  until  about  four  o'clock.  We  were 
then  doing  our  business  on  Wall  street  through  the  telegraph 
from  our  office  to  Wall  street.  I  asked  Mr.  Gould  if  he  had 
seen  Mr.  Corbin  that  morning.  He  said  :  "  Yes,  everything 
is  all  right ;  if  Butterfield  gives  any  information,  we  vvill  get 
it  in  time  to  get  out;  I  am  to  see  Corbin  again  to-night;  I 
think  I  can  give  you  some  more  information  to-night,  after  I 
see  him.'     It  seems  that  when  he  started  to  go  home  that 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  277 

night,  he  stopped  in  at  Corbiu's  house,  when  he  went  up  or 
when  he  came  back;  anyhow,  he  came  into  the  office  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Says  he  to  me,  *  Who  is  the 
most  confidential  man  you  have  got  ?'  I  said,  '  It  all  depends 
upon  what  his  mission  is.'  He  says,  *  I  want  a  man  who  is 
a  quick  traveler  ;  says  nothing,  but  passes  right  along.' 
Said  I,  *I  will  give  you  Chapin.'  I  sent  for  Chapin ;  I  said 
to  him,  'Chapin,  I  want  you  to-morrow  morning  to  be  at 
Corbiu's  house  at  half-past  six  ;  you  will  there  receive  a  letter 
from  him  directed  to  General  Grant,  at  Washington,  Penn- 
sylvania ;  I  want  you  to  leave  on  the  eight-o'clock  train, 
traveling  as  fast  as  you  can,  and  not  stop  until  you  lay  that 
letter  in  his  hands;  wait  until  he  reads  the  letter;  drive 
directly  from  there  to  the  nearest  telegraph  office,  (it  seems 
that  Washington  is  several  miles  from  the  railroads,)  and 
telegraph  back  to  me  whether  the  letter  is  satisfactor3',if  you 
can  do  so  without  conveying  that  intelligence  to  anybody 
else.'  I  then  told  Chapin,  '  You  are  boarding  at  a  private 
house ;  I  will  send  another  man  to  call  you,  so  that  you  will 
positively  not  be  late.'  My  brother-in-law  went  up  in  the 
morning,  saw  that  Chapin  was  called,  took  him  in  a  carriage 
at  half-past  six,  and  went  to  Corbiu's  house  ;  rang  the  bell ; 
Corbin  came  down,  and,  as  Chapin  says,  delivered  him  the 
letter.  He  took  it,  went  over  the  Pennsylvania  Central  to 
Pittsburgh,  left  the  railroad  the  next  night  and  drove  to 
Washington,  arriving  there  about  half-past  seven  in  the 
morning,  I  should  judge.  He  sent  in  his  card  immediately 
saying  that  he  was  a  special  messenger  from  Mr.  Corbin 
General  Grant  came  in,  opened  the  letter  and  read  it,  and 
said,  as  he  was  going  out,  '  You  wait  a  few  minutes.'  Gen- 
eral Grant  went  out,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned  and  said, 
'All  right.'     Chapin  drove  to  the  nearest  telegraph   office, 


2/8  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

according  to  instructions,  and  we  got  a  telegram  about  one 
o'clock,  '  Delivered.     All  right.' 

"I  then  had,  one  evening,  another  interview  with  Corbin.  We 
were  feeling  a  little  nervous  about  the  position  we  were  then 
in.  I  said  to  Corbin,  I  hoped  everything  was  all  for  the  best. 
But,  said  I,  *  If  we  should  miss — if  the  government  should 
sell  this  gold — it  would  certainly  be  a  serious  matter.'  Cor- 
bin then  said  to  me,  *  I  want  you  to  talk  with  my  wife.'  Mrs. 
Corbin  came  into  the  room.  I  had  been  introduced  to  Mrs. 
Corbin  before.  The  thing  had  gone  beyond  the  matter  of 
mere  courtesy  with  anybod}-  I  met  there.  That  was  the  first 
time  I  had  seen  her  in  reference  to  this  transaction.  We  sat 
down  and  talked  the  matter  over  quite  fully.  I  did  not  cover 
any  matters  up ;  I  took  it  for  granted  that  they  had  bought 
gold,  and  that  they  had  as  much  interest  in  the  matter  as  I 
had.  She  made  this  remark:  '  I  know  there  will  be  no  gold 
sold  by  the  government ;  I  am  quite  positive  there  will  be  no 
gold  sold ;  for  this  is  a  chance  of  a  life-time  for  us;  you  need 
have  no  uneasiness  whatever.' 

"  I  had  a  phantom  ahead  of  me  all  the  time  that  this  real 
gold  would  come  out.  I  was  well  aware  that  we  had  bought 
all  the  gold  there  was  in  New  York,  and  had  no  fear  of  that 
coming  back  on  us.  The  gold  we  were  then  buying  in  Wall 
street,  was  phantom  gold,  and  could  give  us  no  trouble. 

"  I  started  away  on  the  strength  of  that  conversation,  and 
I  think  it  was  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  we  left  our  car- 
riage back  of  the  Post  Office,  and  when  we  came  up  to  get 
into  the  carriage,  as  I  came  along  up  street,  we  stopped 
right  below  Duncan  &  Shearman's  office.  Gould  says  to 
me,  '  Old  Corbin  feels  troubled  and  nervous  about  some 
gold  ;  he  wants  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  What  do  you 
think  about  it?'   '  Well,'  said  I,  '  if  he  wants  a  hundred  thou- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  279 

sand  dollars  to  feed  out  to  parties  in  interest,  he  had  better 
have  it.'  I  think  this  was  on  the  al'ternoon  of  Thursday. 
Gould  asked  me  if  that  didn't  look  as  if  there  might  be  some 
blow  up.  I  said, '  If  he  wants  that  money  to  deal  out  to  peo- 
ple, and  it  will  help  to  strengthen  our  position  in  regard  to 
this  gold,  we  will  give  him  one  hundred  or  two  hundred 
thousand  .'  '  Well,'  said  he,  'do  as  you  please.'  I  told  him 
I  would  go  out  and  get  the  money  ;  so  I  went  immediately 
to  Smith,  Gould,  Martin  &  Co.,  got  a  check  for  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  brought  it  and  gave  it  to  Gould  in  the 
carriage.  Gould  said  he  would  stop  at  Corbin's  when  he 
went  home  that  night,  and  would  give  it  to  him. 

"  Somehow  or  other  when  I  was  not  with  Corbin,  I  al- 
ways felt  shaky  about  the  old  rascal.  I  had  my  suspicions 
all  the  time,  and  yet  when  he  talked  to  me  I  thought  he  was 
as  innocent  and  guileless  as  a  baby.  But  I  kept  my  sus- 
picions to  myself.  Gould  had  an  awful  bag  of  gold,  and  I 
could  see  by  the  way  he  would  keep  tearing  up  little  pieces 
of  paper  that  he  was  in  up  to  the  handle( — that's  one  of 
Gould's  peculiarities).  Well,  I  didn't  learn  until  the  after- 
noon of  Friday,  after  the  blow-up,  anything  about  that  hun- 
dred thousand  dollar  check.  So  I  says  to  Gould,  when 
things  was  as  wild  as  Bedlam  in  a  breeze,  '  I'll  be  damned  if 
that  old  scoundrel  shall  have  that  money  ;  I'll  stop  the  pav- 
ment  of  that  check.'  Then  Gould  remarked  in  his  quiet 
way,  '  lie  hasn't  got  it.  He  has  the  $25,000  check,  but  the 
big  one  is  in  my  pocket.'  I  told  him  that  was  bully  ;  there 
was  so  much  saved  anyhow. 

"  I  went  down  to  the  neigborhood  of  Wall  street  on  Friday 
morning,  and  the  history  of  that  morning  you  know.  When 
I  got  back  to  our  office,  you  can  imagine  I  was  in  no  envi- 
able state  of  mind,  and  the  moment  I  got  up  street  that  af- 


280  LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF 

terncion,  I  started  rig'ht  round  to  old  Corbiu's  to  rake  him 
out. 

"  I  went  into  the  room  and  sent  word  that  Mr.  Fisk  wanted 
to  see  him  in  the  dining-room.  I  was  too  mad  to  say  any- 
thing civil,  and  when  he  came  in,  I  said,  *  You  damned  old 
scoundrel,  do  you  know  what  has  happened  ?' 

"  This  was,  of  course,  after  everything  had  blown  up. 

"  Said  I,  '  Do  you  know  what  you  have  done  here,  you  and 
your  people?' 

"  He  began  to  wring  his  hands.  *  Oh,'  he  says,  '  this  is  a 
horrible  position  ;  are  you  ruined  ?'  I  said  I  did  n't  know 
whether  I  was  or  not ;  and  I  asked  him  again  if  he  knew 
what  had  happened.  He  had  been  crying,  and  said  he  had 
just  heard  ;  that  he  had  been  sure  that  everything  was  all 
right,  but  that  something  had  occurred  different  from  what 
he  had  anticipated.  Said  I,  '  That  don't  amount  to  anything  ; 
we  know  that  gold  ought  not  to  be  at  31,  and  that  it  would 
not  be  but  for  such  performances  as  you  have  had  this  last 
w'eek ;  you  know  damned  well  that  it  would  not  be  if  you 
had  n't  failed.'  I  knew  that  somebody  had  run  a  saw  right 
into  us,  and  I  said,  '  The  whole  damned  thing  has  turned 
out  just  as  I  told  you  it  would ;'  I  considered  the  whole  par- 
ty a  pack  of  cowards  ;  and  I  expected  that  when  we  came 
to  clear  our  hands  they  would  sock  it  right  into  us.  I  said 
to  him,  '  I  don't  know  whether  you  have  lied  or  not,  and  I 
don't  know  what  ought  to  be  done  with  you.  I  suspect  that 
the  whole  thing  was  a  damned  trick  from  beginning  to  end.' 

"  He  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  table,  weeping  and  waiL 
ing,  and  I  was  gnashing  my  teeth.  'Now,'  he  says, 'you 
must  quiet  yourself.'  I  told  him  I  didn't  want  to  be  quiet ; 
I  had  no  desire  to  ever  be  quiet  again,  and  probably  never 
should  be  quiet  again.     He  says,  '  But,  my  dear  sir,  you 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  28 1 

will  lose  your  reason.'  Says  I,  '  Speyers  has  already 
lost  his  reason ;  reason  has  gone  out  of  everybody  but 
me.'  I  continued,  '  Now  what  arc  you  going  to  do ;  you 
have  got.us  into  this  thing,  and  what  ar.e  you  going  to  do  to 
get  out  of  it?'  He  says, 'I  don't  know;  I  will  go  and  get 
iny  wife.'  I  said,  '  Get  her  do\vn  here.'  The  soft  talk  was 
all  over.  He  went  up-stairs  and  they  returned,  '  tottling  '. 
into  the  room,  looking  older  than  Stephen  Hopkins.  His 
wife  and  he  both  looked  like  death.  He  was  tottling  just 
like  that.  (Illustrated  b}^  a  trembling  movement  of  the 
body.) 

"  Finally,  I  said,  '  Here  is  the  position  of  the  matter.  We 
are  forty  miles  down  the  Delaware,  and  we  don't  know 
where  \vc  are.  I  don't  know  but  we  may  be  rich  ;  but  it 
looks  devilish  like  as  if  we  were  poor.  You  have  got  us 
into  this  scrape,  and  now  what  is  going  to  be  done  ?'  She 
said  she  could  not  think  this  had  been  done  with  the  Presi- 
dent's consent.  She  thought  Boutwell  had  done  it  in  viola- 
tion of  the  strict  orders  of  the  President  not  to  sell  gold. 
Said  I,  '  That  don't  help  matters  at  all.  I  can't  tell  you 
where  we  stand.'  We  had  sold  large  amounts  of  gold,  which 
I  was  afraid  would  not  go  out.  '  Now,  Mr,  Corbin,  wdiat  do 
3'ou  mean  to  do?'  The  old  man  straightened  up  in  front  of 
the  table,  and  said,  '  I  will  go  down  to  Washington  and  lay 
it  at  their  door ;  I  will  fathom  this  thing.'  Said  I,  '  When 
will  you  go — to-night?'  *  No,'  he  said  ;  'they  had  both  been 
abed  all  day,  a?id  could  not  go  that  night ;  but,'  said  he,  '  we 
will  be  in  Washington  Sunday  morning;  we  will  ride  all 
night  Saturday  night,  and  go  to  the  Executive  Mansion  Sun- 
day morning.  You  stand  right  still  until  Mondav  morning, 
and  we  will  stop  all  sales  of  gold.  We  will  mend  up  the 
matter ;  bind  up  the  wounds,  and  all  will  be  right.' 


■282  ■  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  Corbin's  influence  was 
pretty  well  played  out,  but  I  thought  the  further  off  he  was 
the  happier  I  should  be,  so  I  recommended  him  to  go.  He 
came  down  Saturday  night,  as  I  afterward  heard,  and  went 
back  Sunday  night,  spending  the  day  at  the  mansion.  I 
have  never  seen  him  from  that  day  to  this.  Of  course  m-at- 
ters  took  such  a  turn  that  it  was  no  use.  It  was  each  man 
drag  out  his  own  corpse.  Get  out  of  it  as  well  as  you 
can. 

"  This  is  a  statement  as  nearly  as  I  can  give  you  of  this 
gold  operation.  The  whole  movement  was  based  upon  a 
desire  on  our  part  to  employ  our  men,  and  work  our  power, 
getting  the  surplus  crops  moved  East,  and  receiving  for  our- 
selves that  portion  of  the  transportation  properly  belonging 
to  our  road.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  movement,  and 
the  further  operations  were  based  upon  a  promise  of  what 
Corbin  said  the  government  would  do.  Whether  Mr.  Cor- 
bin  has  lied  or  not  regarding  Mrs.  Grant's  having  half  a  mil- 
Hon  dollars  of  this  gold,  and  about  Porter's  being  interested 
in  half  a  million  of  gold,  I  do  not  know;  I  have  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  did." 

O. — What  Porter  do  you  refer  to? 

Fisk. — I  think  he  said  General  Porter  ;  I  know  it  was  the 
Port.er  who  was  with  General  Grant  in  Washington,  Penn- 
sylvania. I  heard  my  man  say  that  Porter  had  an  interest  in 
half  a  million  of  dollars  of  this  gold.  You  have  heard  of  the 
interest  that  Speyers  had  in  this  gold.  We  had  nothing  to  do 
with  Speyers  that  day:  Whatever  transactions  he  had  were 
with  Belden.  My  transactions  were  done  through  Heath  & 
Co.,  and  were  merely  to  support  the  gold  market,  without 
any  understanding  that  there  was  to  be  any  corner;  without 
any  understanding  whatever,  of  any  name  or  nature,  further 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  283 

tlian  to  assist  Gould  in  this  transaction.  He  had  started  out 
witli  the  view  of  J^iving  work  to  our  men  and  our  power 
during  the  fall  and  winter. 

"  Before  I  started  to  come  to  Washington  yesterday  morn- 
ing, I  asked  Mr.  Vanderbilt  to  come  to  our  office  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  whether  he  was  situated  as  we  were.  I  said 
to  him,  '  We  are  going  down  to  Washington,  and  we  wish  to 
see  whether  you  are  fixed  as  we  are ;  perhaps  it  may  have 
some  weight  upon  our  future  position,  so  far  as  this  affair  is 
concerned.  I  would  like  to  know  whether,  representing  as 
you  do  a  line  as  large  as  ours,  you  are  employing  as  many 
men  as  heretofore.  Our  men  are  on  three-quarter  time  ;  we 
are  ten  days  short  in  our  payments,  and  our  side  tracks  are 
filled  with  empty  cars.  We  yesterday  took  out  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  cars,  against  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  this  day  one  year  ago  ;  and,'  said  I,  '  where  do  you 
stand  ?' 

"  He  replied,  '  I  have  just  ordered  extra  side  tracks  to 
put  empty  cars  on.  Our  men  are  on  three-quarter  time, 
and  so  far  as  our  matters  are  concerned,  they  are  just  like 
yours.' 

"  Railroading  to-day  is  not  furnishing  more  money  than  is 
required  to  pay  for  the  labor  and  the  oil  used.  We  are  not 
situated  differently  from  any  other  road  in  that  respect. 
There  never  was  such  prostration  as  has  settled  over  these 
thirty-five  or  forty  millions  of  i)eople — as  rests  on  us  all  here. 
I  am  now  speaking  to  illustrate  where  this  man  Grant  has 
brought  us  to.  As  the  representative  of  the  largest  corpo- 
ration on  the  American  continent,  I  say  to  you  that  we  are. 
to-day  starving  to  death.  I  must  ask  you,  gentlemen,  to 
summon  witnesses  whose  names  I  shall  give  you.  My  men 
are  starving.     When  the  newspapers  told  you  we  were  keep- 


284  LIFE   AND   TCIES   OF 

ing  away  from  this  committee,"  I  say  to  you  that  there  was  no 
man  in  this  country  who  wanted  to  come  before  you  as  bad 
as  Jim  Fisk,  Jr.  I  have  thirty  or  forty  thousand  wives  and 
mothers  and  children  to  feed  with  the  money  disbursed  from 
our  office.  We  have  no  money  to  pay  them,  and  I  know 
what  has  bi^ought  them  to  this  condition." 

O. — Did  you  expect  to  carry  gold  as  high  as  50? 

Fisk. — No.  Onl}^  to  where  we  could  ship  the  crops — say 
to  40  or  perhaps  to  47.  It  went  up  to  60  because  there  were 
in  the  market  a  hundred  men  short  of  gold.  There  were 
banking  houses  which  had  stood  for  fifty  years  and  which  did 
not  know  but  what  they  were  ruined.  They  rushed  into  the 
market  to  cover  their  shorts.  I  think  it  went  from  45  to  60 
without  the  purchase  of  more  than  (600,000  or  ^'700,000  of 
gold.  It  went  there  in  consequence  of  the  frightened  beai 
interest.  . 

*  On  receipt  of  summons  to  appear  before  the  committee,  Jay  Gould  at  once 
replied  as  follows : 

"  President's  Office,  Erie  Railway  Company, 
"  Cor.  8th  Ave.  and  23D  St.,  New  York,  Jan.  18,  1870. 

"Hon.  J.  A.  Garfield,  Chairman,  Etc.  : 

"  Dear  Sir. — Your  telegram  of  this  date  is  received,  and  while  assuring  you 
in  reply  of  the  intention  both  of  myself  and  Mr.  Fisk  to  respond  promptly  to 
any  summons  of  your  committee,  I  wish  to  correct  an  impression  which  seems 
to  be  entertained,  (as  I  learn  from  the  journals  of  the  day,)  that  we  would  evade 
or  shrink  from  a  Congressional  examination. 

"  I  most  emphatically  assert  that  there  is  no  foundation  whatever  for  such  an 
impression,  and  were  it  not  for  some  recent  troubles  among  our  mechanics  at 
Tersey  City,  demanding  our  presence  here,  one  or  both  of  us  would  have  been 
n  Washington  several  days  ago  to  confer  with  the  members  of  your  committee, 
and  offer  them  every  information  in  our  possession  bearing  upon  the  subject 
they  are  commissioned  to  investigate. 

"Our  present  intention  is  to  leave  here  on  Friday  evening,  and  be  in  "Wash 
ington  on  Satu'day,  ready  to  appear  for  examination. 

" I  remain,  very  respectfully, 

"  Jay  Gould." 


JAMI'S   FISK,  JR.  285 

Q. — What  frightened  the  bears? 

Fisk. — There  was  a  feeling  that  there  was  no  gold  in  the 
market,  and  that  the  government  would  not  let  an}-  gold  go 
out. 

Q. — Mr.  Belden  has  stated  under  oath  to  the  grand  jury 
that  you  and  Mr.  Gould  gave  him  a  great  many  orders  to 
bu)'  gold  ?  State  in  full  the  orders  yon  gave  to  Mr.  Belden 
upon  these  two  days  of  the  panic. 

Fisk. — We  were  buying  and  selling.  Of  course,  in  work- 
ing a  market  like  that  we  were  continually  buying  and  selling 
gold.  I  think  I  telegraphed  two  or  three  times  on  Thursday 
to  Belden  to  buy  a  milHon  of  gold.  The  next  morning  I  sold 
a  million.  I  know  in  m}'  conversation  with  Belden  the  first 
night  there  was  no  relative  difference  between  his  purchases 
and  the  sales  for  our  account. 

Q. — C.  C.  Allen  has  also  stated  to  the  grand  jury  that  you 
gave  him  orders  to  buy  gold  ;  please  state  what  orders  you 
gave  him. 

Fisk. — Allen  is  a  man  whom  I  never  saw,  so  far  as  I  know. 
Allen  claims,  and  has  brought  suit,  that  he  has  a  written 
order  to  buy  a  million  of  gold  for  William  Heath  &  Co. 
The  facts  of  the  case  I  will  state  as  they  were  told  to  me. 
When  gold  was  at  43,  I  gave  a  young  man  by  the  name  of 
Crother,  an  order  to  buy  $500,000  of  gold.  It  seems  he 
could  not  execute  the  order,  and  he  says  he  gave  the  order 
to  this  man  Allen.  I  then  had  no  idea  of  gold  going  up  to 
60  or  anything  of  that  kind  ;  and  when  he  came  back  he  said 
to  me,  "  Suppose  I'can  get  a  million,  what  shall  I  do?"  Said 
I,  "  Take  it."  I  remember  that,  and  that  is  all  I  ever  knew 
about  it.  Pretty  soon  he  came  back  and  said  he  did  not  get 
anything  at  all.  This  was  just  before  the  jump  from  45  to 
60.     Then  Crother  comes  back  to  me  and  says  :  "  You  sign 


286  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

right  at  the  bottom  of  this  paper,"  which  he  handed  me, 
"and  I  will  see  if  I  cannot  execute  the  order."  In  a  hasty 
moment  I  tore  the  margin  off  a  New  York  Herald,  and  wrote, 
*'  Buy  a  million  of  gold.  William  Belden  &  Co."  I  was 
going  to  send  it  to  Belden,  as  I  supposed  Heath  &  Co.  had 
all  the  gold  they  wanted.  They  said  I  told  them  to  send  it 
in  to  Heath.  Three  days  afterward  Crother  comes  to  me 
and  states  that  he  gave  the  order  to  this  man  Allen,  and  that 
Allen  had  executed  it  at  60.  Said  I,  "  If  he  has  executed  it 
let  him  take  it."  During  this  time  Belden  had  failed,  and 
Allen  then  tried  to  put  it  off  on  to  Heath. 

Q. — It  is  in  evidence  before  the  committee  that  you  gave 
large  orders  to  William  Heath  &  Co.  ;  please  state  what 
orders  you  gave  to  them. 

Fisk. — I  think,  on  Friday  morning,  Heath  bought  four  or 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold. 

Q. — There  was  a  meeting  on  the  night  of  the  23d  at  the 
Opera  House,  in  w^hich  these  transactions  and  the  situation 
in  which  you  were  was  discussed,  and  in  which  a  proposition 
was  made  to  publish  in  the  papers  the  next  morning  the 
names  of  the  men  who  were  short  of  gold,  for  the  purpose  of 
forcing  them  to  a  settlement ;  please  state  to  the  committee 
what  your  plan  was. 

Fisk. — That  was  never  mentioned  at  the  Opera  House. 

O. — Where  was  this  meeting  held,  and  what  occurred 
thereat  ? 

Fisk. — There  is  a  theory  to  which  you  seem  to  refer,  a 
measure  originating  with  Daniel  Drew: — that  when  parties 
were  largely  short  of  Erie,  their  names  and  the  amounts 
short  should  be  published,  so  that,  on  looking  at  the  list, 
they  would  see  they  were  cornered,  and  would  come  right 
down  at  such  prices  as  they  could  get.     My  counsel  told  me 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  28/ 

that  it  was  unlawful — that  the  law  would  look  upon  it  as  a 
conspiracy. 

Q. — How  much  did  you  and  your  associates  hold  the  night 
before  the  blow  up  ? 

Fisk. — Perhaps  $60,000,000.  Of  course,  we  knew  that 
there  was  only  thirteen  or  fourteen  millions  that  could  come 
in  onto  us. 

Q. — Was  your  situation  such  that  everybody  who  had  gold 
must  buy  of  you  ? 

Fisk. — If  we  called  in  the  $13,000,000,  these  parties  must 
take  the  gold  of  us.  I  told  them  that  our  plan  was  to  put 
gold  up  to  45,  and  that  we  Avere  safe  then,  for  we  could  loan 
the  gold  four  times  over,  and  make  as  much  money  as  if  wc 
sold  it,  but  to  wait  until  this  excitement  was  over ;  for,  I 
assure  you,  I  never  have  made  money  in  an  excitable  mar- 
ket. I  preferred,  therefore,  to  wait  until  the  prices  were 
steady  at  about  45  ;  when  they  dropped  down  to  43  we  would 
buy  it  over  again,  and  so  make  a  great  deal  of  money  with- 
out bringing  on  any  corner  in  gold  at  all.  If  our  plan  suc- 
ceeded, we  had  nothing  to  do  but  make  money  all  the  time. 
'Twould  have  been  as  easy  as  rolling  off  a  log.  My  associ- 
ates concurred  in  my  view  so  far  as  this  ;  there  is  no  fright 
as  great  as  the  fright  in  Wall  street  when  the  bears  become 
panicky.  Burnt  brandy  won't  save  'em,  for  the  very  reason 
that  they  have  sold  what  they  have  not  got.  There  are  so 
many  orders  for  Gold  Exchange  by  the  English  and  German 
bankers,  who  we  knew  were  short  of  gold,  that  Ave  were 
afraid  what  might  be  the  result  of  the  fright  they  would  get 

into We  knew  who  wxre  short,  for  we  had  a  list  of 

their  contracts.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty  were  in  that 
pickle.  Jay  Cooke  was  one,  and  nearly  all  the  big  firms  were 
tarred  with  the  same  stick.     They  all   depended  upon  us. 


288  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

We  had  called  in  six  or  eight  miUions,  enough  to  make  a 
sharp  demand  ;  the  banks  held  about  as  much  more.  And 
we,  therefore,  substantially  held  all  that  was  available.  We 
called  in  that  gold  during  Tuesday  and  Wednesday.  Our 
intention  was  to  bring  in  enough  to  make  a  sharp  call  for 
gold,  enough  to  make  quick  loans,  so  that  we  could  get  it 
right  out  of  the  way.  The  prices  broke  down  on  Friday 
because  the  government  unloaded  gold. 

O. — How  soon  did  you  know  the  news? 

Fisk. — I  will  state  what  I  know  on  that  subject.  I  never 
had  met  General  Butterfield  but  once  before  this.  They 
considered  him  all-important.  I  did  not  see  how  we  could 
get  much  benefit  from  him.  Nevertheless,  I  could  see  that 
if  they  had  a  claim  upon  him,  if  he  got  the  news  first,  he 
would  give  it  to  them.  On  Friday  morning,  when  I  went 
out  into  the  street,  everybody  was  wild.  The  first  thing  I 
suppose  every  man  did  who  was  a  friend  to  Boutwell  was  to 
telegraph  to  Washington.  An  article  also  appeared  that 
morning  in  the  Times,  saying  that  the  administration  was 
mixed  up  in  this  movement,  and  that  the  time  had  come 
when  they  should  break  up  these  cliques.  It  was  a  dirty 
article,  but  I  found  that  it  would  break  down  gold  ;  that  it 
would  be  telegraphed  to  Washington,  and  that,  when  the 
time  came,  these  men  would  not  stand  fast.  I  believed  it 
that  morning,  the  moment  I  got  into  the  street.  I  had  three 
or  four  runners  with  me,  and  I  started  a  man  from  my  office 
right  up  to  Butterfield's  every  fifteen  minutes.  Butterfield 
kept  sending  down  word  to  Mr.  Gould  that  everything  was 
all  right.  This  continued  until  about  twenty  minutes  past 
eleven,  when  gold,  which  had  gone  up  to  63,  all  of  a  sudden 
broke  down  to  40.  My  man  had  then  been  gone' about  half 
an  hour.     He  reported   that  he  could  not  for  a  good  while 


THE    RESIDENCE    OF    HELEN    JOSEPHINE    MANSFIELD. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  29 1 

find  Butterfield.  I  believe  that  when  Buttcrfield  got  the 
information  he  gave  it  to  Seligman,  and  that  he  withheld 
the  information  from  the  others  as  long  as  he  could,  until  he 
could  get  out  some  of  the  gold  he  had  there.  That  is  the 
first  knowledge  I  had  of  this  order. 

Q. — Why,  would  the  sale  of  four  millions  of  gold  break 
down  the  market  ? 

Fisk. — It  would  break  our  corner. 

Q. — The  "  longs"  then  were  not  so  strong  but  that  four 
millions  would  break  them  ? 

Fisk. — It  would  when  they  knew  the  government  had 
eighty  or  ninety  millions  right  behind  it.  The  theory  was 
adopted  in  a  moment  that  the  government  had  made  up  its 
mind  to  break  up  this  clique.  They  gave  real  gold  that  took 
the  money  to  pay  for  it  every  time. 

Q. — Explain  to  the  committee  what  you  mean  by  "  phan- 
tom gold  ?" 

Fisk. — I  mean  "  short"  gold.  That  is  the  common  title. 
You  are  a  member  of  the  board,  suppose,  and  you  say,  I  will 
sell  you  gold  at  twenty-one,  and  I  say  I  will  take  it.  You 
and  I  exchange  tickets ;  to-morrow  you  have  got  to  give  me 
that  gold  ;  but  you  come  to  me  and  buy  the  gold,  or  you 
borrow  it  and  give  it  to  me.  It  is  nothing  really  but  a  piece 
of  paper.  Again,  suppose  I  have  a  million  of  gold  ;  you 
come  to  me  and  want  to  borrow  a  million  ;  you  loan  the 
gold  or  sell  it  to  another  man,  and  he  tg  another,  and  so  on, 
until  a  million  of  gold  would  settle  twenty  millions  of  tran- 
sactions, and  no  gold  has  really  passed  at  all.  In  fact,  mil- 
lions of  transactions  pass  through  the  clearing-house  with 
never  a  dollar  of  real  gold  at  all. 

O. — You  have  spoken  of  money  having  been  paid  ;  do  you 
think  money  was  ever  paid  to  Mr.  Corbin  ? 

17 


292  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Fisk. — Yes ;  I  know  that  a  check  of  twenty -five  thousand 
dollars  xvas  given  to  him,  and  that  it  was  afterwards  returned 
to  the  bank.  It  was  drawn  on  Smith,  Gould  &  Martin,  by 
Jay  Gould.  This  check  was  tracked  up,  and  found  to  have 
been  presented  to  the  Bank  of  the  Commonwealth  without 
Corbin's  signature,  which,  of  itself,  has  a  suspicious  look. 
We  found  that  it  came  through  the  bank  in  which  Corbin 
keeps  his  account,  bearing  the  number  of  Corbin's  account, 
showing  that  it  went  to  his  credit.  Evidently  he  declined  to 
indorse  it,  thinking  it  might  place  him  more  in  our  power. 

O. — You  know  Gould  to  have  been  intimately  related  to 
nearly  all  you  have  stated  ? 

Fisk. — I  know  he  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  on  Corbin 
twice  a  day  for  six  weeks.  I  know  that  he  had  three  or  four 
interviews  with  General  Grant,  and  therefore  I  do  not  see 
why  he  should  not  understand  the  matter  as  I  do.  The 
testimony  I  have  given  this  afternoon  regarding  the  connec- 
tion of  General  Grant  with  this  movement,  has  been  given 
to  you  by  me  upon  the  theory  that  what  I  knew  about  it 
was  told  to  me  by  Mr.  Corbin  and  Mrs.  Corbin,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  what  they  told  me  is  true.  It  is,  how- 
ever, for  those  who  have  judgment  in  the  matter,  to  say 
whether  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corbin  deceived  me.  It  is  proof  that 
I  cannot  doubt.  I  believed  what  they  said,  and  acted  upon 
that  belief,  and  placed  myself  in  a  position  that  no  one  in 
this  country  would  ever  care  to  be  placed  in.  That  is  the 
best  reason  I  can  give  for  my  belief  in  what  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Corbin  told  me. 

Q. — What  became  of  the  gold  carried  for  Mrs.  Grant  and 
the  other  members  of  the  President's  family  ? 

Fisk. — O,  that  went  with  the  rest — to  where  the  woodbine 
twineth.     (Great  laughter.) 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  293 

Q. — Do  you  know  whether  any  money  was  paid  to  Mrs. 
Grant  ? 

Fisk.— I  only  know  what  that  old  thief  Corbin  told  me. 
Corbin  was  paid  $25,000  for  Mrs.  Grant  in  a  check.  I  have 
already  told  you  all  about  it. 

Q. — Do  you  know  what  the  letter  contained  which  Cor- 
bin sent  to  the  President  ? 

Fisk. — No.  There's  where  we  made  a  terrible  blunder. 
There's  where  we  were  overreached.  We  ought  to  have 
found  out  the  contents  of  the  old  villain's  letter.  It  was  that 
which  sold  us  body,  soul,  and  breeches. 

A  number  of  witnesses  were  examined  by  the  Committee, 
and  after  many  da3'S  two  reports  were  submitted.  The  ma- 
jority report  set  forth  among-  main  points  in  a  comprehen- 
sive summary,  that  "  Mr.  Corbin,  using  the  opportunities 
which  his  family  relationship  to  the  President  afforded,  and 
under  that  worst  form  of  hypocrisy  which  puts  on  the  guise 
of  religion  and  patriotism,  used  all  his  arts  to  learn  some- 
thing from  the  private  conversations  of  the  President 
which  could  be  made  profitable  to  him  and  his  co-con- 
spirators. But  with  this  and  all  the  efforts  of  his  associates, 
the  testimony  has  not  elicited  a  word  or  an  act  of  the  Presi- 
dent inconsistent  with  that  patriotism  and  integrity  which 
befit  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation." 

Also,  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether  the  charge  that 
Mrs.  Grant  was  interested  in  the  gold  speculation  originated 
with  Fisk  or  with  Corbin.  "  The  Committee  required  Mr. 
Corbin  to  produce  the  original  check  for  $25,000,  and  re- 
quired Corbin  to  show  what  use  he  made  of  it."  It  was 
shown  that  he  had  used  it  to  pay  a  debt  which  he  owed  to 
the  Bank  of  America.     The  majority  exculpated  President 


294  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Grant  and  General  Horace  Porter,  but  held  that  General 
Butterfield's  course  during  the  gold  conspiracy  had  been 
questionable,  to  say  the  least.  The  minority  Committee 
maintained  that  "  unconsciously  or  consciously,  the  President 
in  his  letters  to  Mr.  Boutwell,  worked  in  unison  with  the  con- 
spirators ;"  and  closed  their  report  with  the  following  sig- 
nificant language : 

"  Whatever  of  value  this  examination  has  for  future  legis- 
lation, one  value  it  has  not.  It  has  not  enabled  the  Commit- 
tee with  unanimity  to  speak  fully  of  the  connection  of  the 
highest  government  official  with  this  extraordinary  move- 
ment in  gold.  As  the  examination  was  in  this  regard  par 
tial,  so  must  be  the  report. 

"  In  conclusion,  the  minority  respectfully  decline  to  give 
any  certificates  of  immaculateness  to  any  parties.  The  reso- 
lution under  which  we  act  does  not  call  for  or  compel  us  to 
do  so ;  and,  however  much  it  may  be  desirable  in  many 
views,  we  submit  our  report  in  that  reticence  to  which  we 
were  enforced  by  the  conduct  of  the  President  and  the  act 
of  the  majority.* 

''  The  public  may  draw  its  own  inferences  as  well  from 
the  testimony  as  from  its  absence.  We  have  none  to  draw  ; 
and  by  this  statement  we  frankly  say  that  we  make  no  in- 
sinuation or  charge.  Let  the  friends  of  the  Executive,  if  he 
be  in  any  way  damaged  by  their  zeal  in  shielding  him,  be 
held  responsible  for  our  silence." 

Thus  ended  the  business  of  the  Gold  Panic  Investigating 
Committee,  and  with  the  following  most  graphic  picture  of 
the  gold-room  on  the  ever  memorable  Black  Friday  when 
the   storm   burst   and    so   many    were   plunged   into    utter 

*  The  President,  Mrs.  Grant,  and  Mrs.  Corbin  were  not  called  as  witnesses 
during  the  investigation. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  295 

ruin,  this  part  of  our  eventful  history  is  brought  to  a 
close : 

"  In  the  spacious  Exchange  room  of  the  Gold  Board, 
crowded  as  it  had  never  been  crowded,  even  in  the  wildest 
excitement  of  war  times,  amid  the  strangest  variations  of 
deathlike  silence  and  tumultuous  uproar,  the  pallid,  half  con- 
science-stricken brokers  of  this  gambling  clique  appeared, 
one  after  another,  to  do  their  dirty  work. 

"  By  the  little  fountain  which  plays  in  the  center  of  the 
floor,  and  around  which  the  principal  business  is  transacted, 
first  one  bid  arose,  145  for  $100,000,  and  there  was  no  re- 
sponse. Then  another  bid,  146  for  $100,000,  and  again  no 
answer.  146,  147,  148,  149  for  $100,000,  with  a  pause  be- 
tween each,  all  amid  deathlike  silence. 

"  The  hundreds  gathered  there,  and  the  thousands  who 
read  the  ominous  words  on  all  the  telegraphic  indicators  in 
the  principal  business  offices  in  the  city,  and  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  who  Avatched  the  telegraph  offices  throughout 
the  country,  stood  appalled.  Each  one  per  cent,  advance 
involved  losses  of  millions  ;  the  gain  was  with  the  clique. 
Who  could  tell  what  would  be  the  end  ?  There  was  no  re- 
sisting such  power.  They  could  advance  to  200  if  they 
chose.  And  the  usually  surging,  bustling,  shouting  mass  of 
humanity  crowded  there  was  held  silent,  almost  motionless, 
as  by  a  magic  spell.  150  is  now  bid  for  $100,000,  and  des- 
pair suddenly  gives  life  back  to  many.  They  rush  eagerh' 
to  bid  and  buy.  Orders  come  in  by  telegraph  to  buy  at  any 
price.  Messengers  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  great  bankers, 
the  merchant  princes,  from  up-town  and  down-town,  force 
their  way  in  through  the  crush,  and  give  back  to  the  bro- 
kers the  sense  of  reality  which  they  seem  to  have  lost 
amid  the  dream-like  terror.     The  stillness  is  suddenlv  sue- 


296  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

ceedcd  by  frantic  excitement.  Transactions  of  enormous 
magnitude  are  made  amid  tlie  wildest  confusion  and  the 
most  unearthly  screaming  of  men,  always  excitable,  now 
driven  to  the  verge  of  temporary  insanity  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  ruin,  or  the  delusive  dream  of  immense  wealth.  But 
amid  all  the  noise  and  confusion  the  penetrating  voices  of 
the  leading  brokers  of  the  clique  are  still  heard  advancing 
the  price  at  each  bid,  and  increasing  the  amount  of  their 
bids  at  each  advance,  until  at  last,  with  voice  overtopping 
the  bedlam  below,  the  memorable  bid  burst  forth,  '  160  for 
any  part  of  five  millions.'  Again  the  noise  was  hushed. 
Terror  became  depicted  on  every  countenance.  Cool,  sober 
men  looked  at  one  another,  and  noted  the  ashy  paleness  that 
spread  over  all.  Even  those  who  had  but  little  or  no  interest 
at  stake  were  seized  with  the  infection  of  fear,  and  were  con- 
scious of  a  great  evil  approaching.  And  from  the  silence 
again  came  forth  that  shrieking  bid,  '  160  for  five  millions,' 
and  no  answer;  '161  for  five  millions;'  '  162  for  five  mil- 
lions,' still  no  answer;  '  162  for  any  part  of  five  millions.' 
And  a  quiet  voice  said,  *  Sold  one  million  at  162.' 

"  That  quiet  voice  broke  the  fascination.  The  bid  of  162 
was  not  renewed.  But  161  was  again  bid  for  a  million,  and 
the  same  quiet  voice  said,  '  Sold  ;'  and  the  bid  of  161  was 
not  renewed.  But  160  was  again  bid  for  five  millions. 
Then  dimly  it  dawned  upon  the  quicker-witted  ones  that 
for  some  reason  or  other  the  game  was  up.  As  if  by  mag- 
netic sympathy  the  same  thought  passed  through  the  crowd 
at  once.  A  dozen  men  leapt  furiously  at  the  bidder,  and 
claimed  to  have  sold  the  whole  five  millions.  To  their  hor- 
ror the  bidder  stood  his  ground  and  declared  he  would  take 
all.  But  before  the  words  had  barely  passed  his  lips,  before 
the  terror  at  his  action  had  had  time  to  gain  men's  hearts, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  297 

there  was  a  rush  amid  the  crowd.  New  men,  wild  with 
fresh  excitement,  crowded  to  the  barriers.  In  an  instant  the 
rumor  was  abroad,  the  Treasury  is  selhng.  Quick  as  thought 
men  reahzed  it  was  not  safe  to  sell  to  the  clique  brokers. 
Scarcely  any  one  now  wanted  to  buy.  All  who  had  bought 
were  mad  to  sell  at  any  price,  but  there  were  no  buyers.  In 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  about  it,  the  price  fell  from 
162  to  135.  The  great  gigantic  gold  bubble  had  burst,  and 
half  Wall  street  was  involved  in  ruin." 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

For  a  long  time  the  Ninth  Regiment,  National  Guard, 
had  been  in  a  languishing  condition.  It  was  only  about  300 
strong,  its  treasury  was  cmpt}^  and  those  most  interested  in 
the  organization  feared  that  unless  something  were  soon 
done  to  put  it  properly  upon  its  legs,  the  old  Ninth  would 
become,  at  no  distant  day,  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Some  time  in  March,  1870,  a  proposition  was  made  to 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  that  he  should  consent  to  serve  as  Colonel 
of  the  regiment. 

"Elect  me  first,  gentlemen,  and  then  we'll  talk,"  said 
Fisk.  "  You  knovv-  I  'm  no  military  man.  I  've  never  trained 
a  day  in  my  life  ;  never  shot  off  a  gun  or  a  pistol ;  and  don't 
know  even  the  A  B  C's  of  war,  yet.  Fact  is,  I  doubt  whether 
I  could  shoulder  arms  or  file  left,  or  make  a  reconnaissance 
in  force,  or  do  any  of  them  things,  to  save  my  boots.     And 


298  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

as  for  giving  orders— why,  I  don't  know  anything  about  it. 
Elect  me,  though,  and  then  we  '11  talk  about  it." 

The  officers  of  the  Ninth  met  on  the  evening  of  April  7th, 
and  after  going  through  the  form  of  an  election,  chose  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  as  their  Colonel.  The  result  was  not  a  surprise  to 
anybody,  and  the  new  Colonel  was  close  at  hand  to  learn 
the  news.  Gen.  Varian,  commanding  the  Third  Brigade, 
presided  at  the  meeting,  and  when  he  had  announced  the 
result  of  the  balloting,  Lieut.-Col.  Braine,  Major  Hitchcock, 
and  Capts.  Van  Wyck  and  Prior,  were  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee to  inform  Fisk  of  the  action  of  the  officers.  In  a  few 
moments  he  appeared  in  the  Board  Room  of  the  Armory, 
and  was  greeted  with  vociferous  cheering.  He  at  once 
called  the  officers  together,  and  after  making  a  short  and 
characteristic  speech  of  thanks,  proposed  that  they  should 
all  join  a  class  for  thorough  drill  instruction,  and  closed  by 
paying  a  graceful  tribute  to  the  worth  of  Lieut.-Col.  Braine, 
who  had  served  with  distinction  during  the  war,  and  who 
had  resigned  the  position  of  Colonel  (to  which  he  had  been 
recently  elected)  in  order  that  the  regiment  might  be  placed 
under  the  command  of  a  man  of  wealth. 

Colonel  Fisk's  energy  and  money  soon  began  to  make 
themselves  felt.  The  files  of  the  Ninth  increased  rapidly, 
and  the  regiment  bade  fair  to  assume  the  position  in  the 
National  Guard  to  which  its  old  traditions  entitled  it. 

On  the  night  of  the  13th  of  May,  in  response  to  an  invita- 
tion extended  by  Manager  Fisk,  to  the  regiment  commanded 
by  Colonel  Fisk,  the  Ninth  visited  the  Grand  Opera  House 
in  full  force.  Five  hundred,  rank  and  file,  were  present  in 
full  dress.  At  the  hour  when  Ulric,  the  Lost  Soul,  and  Ru- 
dolph, the  Tempter,  and  Kalig,  the  Spirit  of  Evil,  began  to 
show  forth  the  nature  of  the  first  of  the  "  Twelve  Tempta. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  299 

tions,"  the  regiment  marched  in  witli  their  gorgeously- 
attired  Colonel  at  their  head.  They  filed  through  the  broad 
portals  and  into  the  spacious  halls  of  the  Opera  House  to 
the  music  of  their  splendid  band,  and  in  two  minutes,  by  the 
stop-watch  in  the  hands  of  Adjutant  Allien,  were  comfort- 
ably seated,  some  in  the  parquet,  and  some  in  the  private 
boxes.  They  were  greeted  by  the  audience  already  assem- 
bled with  as  hearty  and  noisy  a  round  of  applause  as  if  they 
had  brought  the  spoils  of  victory  from  a  hard-fought  field. 
During  the  performance  Colonel  Fisk  was  in  the  lobby  re- 
ceiving the  crowds  of  friends  who  thronged  about  him  to 
offer  congratulations,  bearing  himself  with  the  same  ease 
and  self-possession  that  always  characterized  him,  whether 
braving  the  storms  of  ocean  on  the  deck  of  one  of  his  numer- 
ous craft,  or  planning  the  purchase  of  a  new  railroad,  or 
worrying  the  brother-in-law  of  a  President,  or  arranging  a 
ballet,  or  plotting  a  corner  in  stocks,  or  negotiating  for  the 
sale  of  a  ton  of  gold.  In  an  anteroom  hard  by  a  corps  of 
attentive  waiters  were  kept  busy  icing  champagne  and  dis- 
pensing it  freely  to  all  who  called. 

This  was  the  second  public  appearance  of  Fisk  as  the  Col- 
onel of  the  Ninth,  and  the  occasion  was  one  of  the  happiest 
and  proudest  of  his  life.  His  vanity  was  tickled  b}'  the  no- 
tice of  the  public,  and  he  felt  proud  of  the  love  and  esteem 
that  his  men  had  for  him.  On  his  first  appearance  on  the 
[4th  of  April,  he  had  felt  somewhat  nervous,  and  fearful  of 
committing  blunders  that  might  subject  him  to  ridicule  ; 
but  the  people  had  greeted  him  so  cordially  that  he  soon  re- 
gained his  self-possession,  and  never  afterward  manifested 
any  sign  of  bashfulness. 

On  taking  command  of  the  Ninth,  the  Colonel  had  offered 
a  prize  of  §500  to  the  company  that  should  have  the  greatest 


300  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

number  of  names  on  its  roll  by  the  ist  of  July.  Under  this 
and  other  stimulants,  which  he  knew  so  well  how  to  admin- 
ister, recruiting  went  briskly  on,  and  by  the  beginning  of 
July  the  regiment  mustered  700  men. 

On  the  20th  of  the  following  month  they  went  into  camp 
at  Long  Branch.  The  trip  down  was  a  delightful  one,  and 
the  ten  days  spent  at  soldiering  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
the  members  of  the  Ninth.  The  Colonel,  although  brimful 
of  fun  all  the  time,  was  vigorous  in  enforcing  military  disci- 
pline, and  indeed  proved  to  be  a  perfect  martinet,  but  one 
of  the  best-natured  martinets  that  ever  buckled  sword-belt. 
He  was  "a  knight  dubbed  with  unbacked  rapier  and  on  car- 
pet consideration,"  to  be  sure ;  and  never  learned  much 
about  manceuvering  a  regiment ;  but  he  did  his  duty  faith- 
fully, and  while  seeming  to  feel  his  responsibility,  never  al- 
lowed that  feeling  to  interrupt  the  keen  enjoyment  of  the 
fun  that  grew  out  of  his  novel  position  and  his  queer  method 
of  ruling  affairs  up  to  the  tinic  of  his  death  ;  although  proud 
of  his  regiment,  and  having  .;..  abiding  faith  that  it  was  the 
best  in  the  National  Guard,  he  always  laughed  at  his  own 
inefficiency  as  a  commander.  In  fact  FIsk  was  a  man  who 
would  never  be  obliged  to  wear  the  point  dexter  tenn(f,  that 
one  of  the  nine  abatements  which,  according  to  Guillim, 
"  is  due  to  him  who  overmuch  boasteth  of  his  martial  ex- 
ploits." 

On  the  first  evening  at  the  Branch  the  whole  band  wanted 
to  leave  for  an  hour.  They  were  rather  frightened,  and  no- 
body cared  to  be  spokesman,  but  at  last  one  of  the  musicians, 
a  stout  German,  mustered  up  courage,  and  approaching  the 
Colonel,  who  was  enjoying  his  otiiun  cum  dignitate  in  his  shirt 
and  drawers,  said  to  him,  deferentially : 

"  Gurnel,  of  you  blease,  de  band  hafe  been  plowing  all  day. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  3OI 

und  deir  treats  is  patched  mid  dc  dry.  Blease,  cannod  \vc 
nod  go  oud  und  git  some  beer?" 

"  Throats  parched,  eh  ?" 

"  Gurnel,  yes,  sir.  De  horns  is  all  ferry  dry,  und  if  de 
trombone  do  nod  git  someding,  he  cannod  no  longer  plow 
any  more." 

"  Adjutant !"  yelled  the  Colonel.  AUien  was  soon  at  hand. 
"  Let  these  tooting  fellows  go  for  their  beer.  My  God  !  they 
say  their  throats  are  parched.  Let  'em  go  for  an  hour ;  and 
tell  the  drum  corps  they  can  go.  Their  throats  are  parched, 
too,  I  guess.  They've  made  as  much  noise  as  the  tooters. 
And  tell  the  beer  man  to  send  the  bill  to  me.  Too  bad,  ain't  it  ? 
How  would  you  like  to  run  around  with  your  throat  parched  ?" 

During  the  night  there  were  many  escapes,  and  the  stout 
Colonel  amused  himself  until  three  o'clock  by  chasing  the 
deserters.  "  How  in  the  devil,"  said  he,  as  he  lay  down  to 
rest  awhile  before  starting  out  after  the  next  runaway,  "  how 
in  the  devil  can  I  teach  these  men  what  I  know  about  war, 
when  Ihcy  are  scattered  all  along  from  Pleasant  Bay  to  the 
West  End  ?" 

Three  or  four  days  afterward  the  Governor  went  down  to 
the  Branch,  and  was  right  royally  received  by  the  Ninth. 
A  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was  fired  in  his  honor.  While 
the  tcn-poundcr  was  blazing  away,  the  Governor  was  es- 
corted around  the  camp,  but  on  turning  the  corner  of  the 
line  the  part}'  came  unpleasantly  close  to  the  little  brass 
piece,  and  as  it  went  off  fragments  of  the  wad  whizzed  right 
by  the  Governor's  ear. 

"  God  bless  me,  Colonel,"  said  he,  starting  back,  "  I  hope 
your  fellows  are  not  firing  canister  !" 

"  It's  grape  the  Colonel  fires,"  said  General  McQuadc,  so- 
berly. 


302  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  So  it  is,  General,"  said  Colonel  Fisk ;  "  but  I  fire  it  other- 
wise. "  Here  Van  (to  the  gunner),  slew  your  popgun  a  little 
to  the  left.     You've  nearly  put  the  Governor's  eyes  out." 


CHAPTER    XXXr. 

Then  there  was  a  grand  ball  at  the  Continental  Hotel, 
given  in  honor  of  the  Ninth ;  and  on  Sunday,  the  28th,  they 
had  their  last  dress  parade  at  the  Branch.  After  the  parade 
the  men  were  marched  back  to  camp  and  formed  in  line. 
When  the  sunset  gun  was  fired,  the  orders  relative  to  the 
next  morning's  march  were  read,  and  the  regiment  formed 
in  hollow  square  to  listen  to  the  Colonel's  address.  Stepping 
forward  from  among  his  staff,  he  said : 

"  Officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Ninth  Regiment : — By  this  time 
to-morrow  evening  there  will  be  nothing  left  of  Camp  Gould 
but  the  ground  on  which  our  tents  now  stand.  To-morrow 
we  shall  be  on  the  march,  and  therefore  I  avail  myself  of  the 
present  opportunity  to  address  you.  This  is  our  last  night 
in  camp,  and  I  cannot  dismiss  you  without  expressing  the 
prfde  and  satisfaction  I  feel  at  your  conduct.  You  have  be- 
haved well  as  soldiers,  and  I  am  proud  of  you.  You  have 
behaved  well  as  citizens,  and  I  thank  you.  During  the  ten 
days  you  have  been  encamped  I  have  not  received  a  single 
complaint  from  any  quarter,  from  the  residents  of  Long 
Branch  or  from  the  visitors ;  and  considering  that  we  left 
New  York  nearly  seven  hundred  strong,  and  have  had  an 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  303 

average  of  about  five  hundred  men  per  day  here,  this  is  more 
than  I  expected.  I  certainly  anticipated  a  little  trouble  from 
outside,  but  I  rejoice  to  say  that  up  to  this  moment  I  have 
not  received  a  single  complaint.  Gentlemen,  this  is  some- 
thing to  be  proud  of,  and  I  cannot  find  words  to  express  my 
thanks  to  you  one  and  all.  The  few  days  I  have  spent  here 
have  been  more  to  me  than  so  many  months.  I  have  learned 
to  know  you  better  and  have  realized  the  responsibility  of 
my  position.  Gentlemen,  I  am  proud  to  command  such  a 
regiment,  and  it  shall  be  my  study  to  make  the  Ninth  the 
model  regiment  of  the  National  Guard.  Once  again  I  thank 
you  for  the  attention  you  have  paid  to  your  duties,  and  in 
view  of  the  progress  made  I  am  sure  none  of  you  will  regret 
the  time  spent  in  Camp  Gould." 

On  the  following  day  the  Ninth  embarked  on  board  the 
Plymouth  Rock  for  New  York,  where,  although  they  were  not 
complimented  by  their  military  brethren,  they  received  a 
glorious  welcome  from  thousands  of  people. 

In  February,  1871,  the  Ninth  gave  a  ball  at  the  Academy 
of  Music,  which  was  a  great  success  in  every  particular  save 
the  attendance  of  that  class  of  society  whose  presence  was 
most  desired.  The  Colonel's  open  defiance  of  the  laws  of 
morality  had  shocked  the  respectable  element  of  the  com- 
munity ;  and  while  he  had  scores  of  warm  friends  among  the 
best  of  New  York's  citizens  who  admired  him  for  his  energy 
and  pluck,  and  who  respected  him  for  his  kindness  of  heart, 
there  were  but  few  of  these  who  would  risk  beino-  thrown  in 
public  contact  with  the  men  and  women  who  were  helping  to 
drag  him  down  to  infamy,  and  who  ultimately  brought  him 
to  his  untimely  death. 

A  few  months  previous  to  the  last  named  date,  Colonel 
Fisk  paid  a  visit  to  the  vast  machine  shops  belonging  to  the 


304  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Erie  Railway  Company  at  Susquehanna,  Pennsylvania,  and 
while  there  made  a  characteristic  speech  to  about  600  em- 
ployes of  the  road,  and  a  number  of  the  country  people  who 
had  crowded  in  to  see  him.  The  speech  is  given  here  just 
as  it  was  reported  by  one  of  the  Susquehanna  machinists. 
Mounting  an  improvised  platform  the  Colonel  removed  his 
jaunty  velvet  cap  and  said  : 

"  I  suppose  you  all  read  the  papers.  Well,  you've  read 
a  great  deal  about  Jim  Fisk.  One  day  you  may  have  in- 
ferred from  what  you  read  in  the  papers  that  this  man  Fisk 
was  an  angel  from  heaven  ;  and  on  another  day  you  may  have 
read  some  other  paper,  and  fancied  that  he  was  a  devil  from 
hell  itself.  Be  that  as  it  may,  here  I  stand  before  you,  plain 
Jim  Fisk,  either  angel  or  devil,  just  as  you  choose  to  take  me. 
Whatever  I  may  be  called,  I  am  a  worker.  I  am  working 
and  have  worked  for  the  interests  of  the  workingman  and  of 
the  pubhc.  I  have  worked  for  those  interests  untiringly  and 
unceasingly.  What  was  the  Erie  Railway  six  years  ago,  and 
what  is  it  now?  You  are  the  men  who  can  mark  the  vast 
improvement. 

"  Look  at  the  improvements  in  your  own  workshops  dur- 
ing that  time,  and  then  judge  of  the  time  and  money  spent  in 
carrying  on  the  same  improvements  along  the  whole  Hne  of 
the  road.  Hundreds  of  miles  of  steel  rails  have  been  laid, 
mile  upon  mile  of  blasting  through  solid  rock  has  been  done, 
the  vast  workshops  at  Susquehanna,  Port  Jervis,  Buffalo, 
Elmira,  Hornellsville,  and  Jersey  City  have  been  enlarged  to 
nearly  double  their  former  size,  and  we  are  smelting  our  own 
iron  and  making  our  own  steel  rails  and  engines.  You  know 
this  of  your  own  knowledge.  You  mark  the  improvement 
of  the  road  hour  by  hour,  and  you  know  how  false  are  the 
impressions   sought   to  be  created  by  liars  in  white  coats. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  305 

whom  God,  for  some  inscrutable  purpose,  suffers  to  edit 
four  cent  papers  in  New  York.  (Great  applause.)  You  may 
not  know,  however,  that  the  author  of  these  lies  has  eaten  at 
the  table  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  and  that  these  attacks  are 
made  in  the  interest  of  the  New  York  Central,  and  Penn- 
sylvania Central  Railroads.  .  .  .  Were  it  not  for  the  outrage- 
ous assaults  of  a  portion  of  the  press,  backed  by  the  influ- 
ence and  money  of  the  competing  lines  who  involved  the  road 
in  an  interminable  series  of  lawsuits,  we  should  have  to-day 
a  broad-gauge  double  track  of  steel  rail  from  New  York  to 
Chicago,  with  the  most  comfortable  cars  and  the  finest  loco- 
motives that  can  be  made.  The  da}^  is  not  far  distant,  how- 
ever, when  these  will  be  accomplished  facts.     (Cheers.) 

"  ....  It  may  seem  to  you  a  fine  thing  to  be  able  to  wear 
a  diamond  and  a  velvet  coat,  and  to  be  stared  at  and  run  over 
by  a  hungr}'-,  curious  crowd,  whichever  way  you  may  turn, 
but  I  can  assure  you  it  is  not  half  so  big  a  thing  as  it  seems. 
I  hope  none  of  3'ou  will  hanker  after  big  diamonds  and  velvet 
coats,  for  I  know  you  will  be  far  happier  without  them.  I 
see  before  me  men,  who,  I  will  venture  to  say,  are  rising  sixty 
years  old,  but  who  can't  show  as  many  grey  hairs  on  their 
heads  as  can  be  found  under  the  velvet  cap  that  I  wear. 
Sleepless  nights  and  work  that  never  ends  are  not  your  por- 
tion. Your  homes  may  be  humble,  but  )''Our  toil  is  over 
when  3-ou  straddle  the  legs  of  your  supper-table.  Don't 
think  that  all  the  work  on  this  road  is  done  at  the  vice  and 
the  lathe,  for  it  ain't.  The  man  who  thinks  that  all  Jim  Fisk 
and  Jay  Gould  have  to  do  is  to  sit  in  a  gilded  office  at  one 
end  of  the  road,  and  pass  the  time  away  in  writing  free  passes 
and  reading  telegraphic  dispatches,  has  got  a  false  impression. 
You  enjo)-  3-our  evenings  in  the  presence  of  your  little  fami- 
lies, while  Jim  Fisk  and  the   heads  of  the  road  frequently 


306  ,  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

spend  the  greater  part  of  the  night  in  studying  how  to  meet 
a  debt  of  Sioo,ooo  by  noon  the  next  day,  when  they  don't 
know  where  to  turn  for  $20 ;  and  all  this,  it  may  be,  to  feed 
you  and  your  fellow  workmen.  We  have  to  study  and  work 
— work  hard  for  your  interests  as  well  as  our  own,  for  our 
interests  are  combined.  (Loud  cheers.)  The  mechanic  and 
the  laborer  in  the  United  States  command  respect  from  all. 
You  are  the  foundation  stone  of  society.  You  are  the  hon- 
est sons  of  honest  toil,  and  you  reap  the  rewards  of  honest 
toil.  Again  I  tell  you  those  rewards  are  far  greater  than  the 
rewards  of  those  who  work  with  the  brain  alone,  and  not 
with  hardened  hands.  And  again  I  say,  don't  hanker  after 
kid  gloves,  and  high  stove-pipe  hats,  and  velvet  coats,  and 
diamond  pins,  and  gorgeous  neck-ties,  for  they  will  afford 
you  no  real  comfort.  I  know  I  should  be  far  happier  run- 
ning one  of  those  lathes  with  no  other  care  on  my  mind.  I 
have  been  connected  with  the  management  of  this  road  for 
some  )'ears,  but  this  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  meeting  you.  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  and  glad 
to  be  seen  by  you.  (Cheers.)  You  have  my  best  wishes, 
and  shall  have  my  best  efforts  for  your  welfare.  Tf  any  of 
you  ever  come  to  New  York,  and  I  can  assist  you,  I  shall  be 
most  happy  to  see  you.     Good  bye." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  speech  the  Colonel  was  loudly 
cheered.  The  men  dispersed  and  resumed  their  work,  with 
the  conviction  firmly  settled  on  their  minds  that  Jim  Fisk 
was  the  working  man's  friend. 


,„,,„..,ri i,j!:rS,  rajrii. 


,-:-i^V:^ 


i'AE   (.'RANGE    KIOT. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  309 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Col.  Fisk's  every  movement  was  now  as  regularly  re- 
ported in  the  daily  papers  of  New  York,  as  if  he  were  in 
reality  a  monarch,  and  they  so  many  "  Court  Journals."  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  at  this"  period  he  was  unusually 
clever  to  the  press.  He  was  always  kind  to  suffering  Bohe- 
mians, although  he  held  them  generally  in  supreme  contempt ; 
and  was  on  all  occasions  lavish  with  his  cigars  and  wine — 
the  Bohemian's  rarest  luxuries.  And  the  grateful  tribe 
repaid  the  gorgeous  Colonel's  hospitality,  by  flattering  him 
in  the  public  prints,  by  giving  prominence  to  the  record  of 
his  daily  walk.  A  comparison  between  the  Court  yournaVs 
column  devoted  to  the  movements  of  Her  Majesty,  Queen 
Victoria,  and  those  of  the  New  York  papers  which  most 
industriously  followed  the  Colonel-Admiral  and  Prince  of 
Erie,  will  prove  that  the  admiration  of  royalty  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  other  side  of  the  water  : 


Court  Journal,  London.  Court  Journals,  Nev/  York. 

"  The  Queen  arose  at  six  this  morn-  "  Prince  Erie  was  out  yesterday  with 

ing,  and  after  prayers,  breakfasted  with  his  magnificent  four-in-hand,  in  Cen- 

her   Royal   Highness,  the  Princess  of  tral    Park.     The    horses   are    splendid 

Wales.  animals,  i6^  hands  high,  and  fast  trot- 

"  At    10    A.M.,  the   Queen    rode    to  ters.    Their  names  are  Prince,  Admiral, 

Ballymacrackcnhow,    accompanied   by  Colonel  and  Ralph.     Two  of  them  are 

His    Royal    Highness,   the    Prince   of  as  black  as  the  raven's  wing,  and  two 

Wales,  Brigadier-General  Sir  Thomas  are  dappled  grey.    They  were  borrowed 

Dodd   Fiddlededee,  K.  C.  B.,  of  Her  from  Mrs.  Fisk,  who  is  now  at  New- 

Majestj'-'s  Indian  army  ;  and  Lady  Ara-  port. 

bella  Adelia  Appletrip,  of  Appletrip  "  Col.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  has  purchased 

Manor,   daughter    of    Lord    Armitage  a  beautiful  black-and-tan  terrier,  which 
18 


310  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Appletrip,  now  absent  in  the  Orkney   he   has    christened   '  Erie.'      The   dog 
Islands,   in   quest   of   relics   from    the    cost  $107." 

ruins  of  the  ancient  Abbey  of  Adig-        "Admiral  Fisk's  large  diamond  look- 
hamton.     The  party  returned  at  2  p.m.,    ed  like  a  blazing  meteor  yesterday." 
when  the  Queen  retired  to  the  chapel,        .<  ^  j^  understood  that  Prince  Erie 
and  afterward  to  her  chamber."  .^jn  ^^^-^^  Squankum  to-morrow.     His 

barber  accompanies  him." 

"  Prince  Erie's  tailor  is  a  Hungarian 

noble  ;  his  caterer  is  a  Spanish  count." 

The  Long  Branch  trip  having  proved  a  grand  triumph, 
the  Colonel  of  the  Ninth  determined  to  take  the  regiment 
to  Boston,  and  astonish  the  natives  of  the  Hub.  So,  two 
months  before  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
he  wrote  to  the  Mayor  of  Boston  : 

"  Head-quarters  of  qth  Regiment,  N.  G.  S.  N.  Y., 

.     April '^th,  1 87 1. 

Hon.  Wm.  Gaston,  Mayor  of  Boston  : 

Dear  Sir :  This  will  introduce  to  you  Major  J.  R.  Hitch- 
cock, Captain  A.  G.  Fuller,  and  Lieutenant  A.  P.  Bacon, 
officers  of  m}'-  regiment,  and  the  Committee  appointed  by 
the  Board  to  visit  your  city,  and  confer  with  you  in  regard 
to  a  proposed  trip  on  the  17th  of  June,  prox.  They  are  em- 
powered to  make  all  arrangements  in  behalf  of  the  Ninth 
Regiment ;  and  I  would  respectfully  ask  that  the  hospitality 
of  the  city  be  extended  to  the  regiment. 

"  I  am,  with  much  respect, 
"James  Fisk,  Jr., 

"  Colonel  Commanding." 

This  letter  was  duly  delivered  by  the  Committee  ;  but  the 
Mayor  did  not  deign  to  reply  to  it.  He  simply  referred  it 
to  the   Common   Council,  who  discussed  the   proposition 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  3II 

with  much  warmtli.  One  of  the  Aldermen,  rcplyinf^  to  ob- 
jections raised  by  others,  that  the  expense  of  the  reception 
would  not  be  justified,  said  that  he  was  authorized  to  state 
that  it  should  not  cost  the  city  a  dollar.  Others  ridiculed 
the  notion  that  Boston  should  give  a  public  reception  to 
such  a  man  as  James  Fisk,  Jr. ;  and  after  more  discussion, 
the  subject  was  laid  upon  the  table.  The  following-  para- 
graph appeared  in  the  next  issue  of  the  Boston  Advertiser  : 

"  The  action  of  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninth  New  York  Ree:- 
imcnt,  in  asking  for  an  official  reception  of  his  corps  by  the 
City  of  Boston,  marks  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  effrontery. 
Such  compliments  are  generally  supposed  to  be  tendered 
by  the  host,  rather  than  asked  for  by  the  guest ;  and  when 
the  would-be  guest  lets  it  be  understood  that  'it  shall  not 
cost  the  city  a  dollar,'  the  transition  from  the  sublime  to 
the  ridiculous  is  at  once  reached.  When  the  City  of  B-oston 
tenders  her  hospitalities,  she  does  it  on  no  mean  scale,  and 
will  be  slow  to  enter  into  any  arrangement  which  smacks  of 
those  silver-plate  presentations,  wherein  the  recipient  pays 
for  the  present." 

"  Well,"  said  the  irrepressible  Fisk,  when  the  result  of  his 
application  was  made  known  to  him  ;  "  this  is  what  you 
may  call  an  attempt  to  snub  me  ;  but  I  think  I  can  stand  it. 
It  ain't  always  the  same  dog  that's  the  under  one  in  the 
fight,  and  I've  knowed  the  sickest  horse  cured.  I'm  going 
to  '  Bosting,'  boys,  as  sure  as. Satan,  and  the  Ninth  is  agoing 
along  !" 

"  But,  Colonel,"  said  a  friend  ;  "  don't  you  run  the  risk  of 
being  insulted  again,  if  3-ou  make  another  application  ?" 

"  Look  a-here.  Doc,"  was  the  reply,  as  the  speaker  brought 
his  chubby  fist  down  upon  the  desk  with  a  bang  ;  '■'■  I've  set 


312  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

my  heart  upon  this  trip  ;  and  I'll  make  it,  by  the  Eternal,  if 
I  have  to  take  the  regiment  on  in  citizen's  clothes,  and  send 
the  arms  and  accoutrements  by  express.  We  can  ship  the 
muskets  and  things  in  coffins,  you  know,  and  consign  'em  to 
an  undertaker.  Then  we  can  dress  the  men  up,  and  tell  the 
Common  Council  that  we  don't  care  a  tinker's  dam  whether 
school  keeps  or  not.  I'll  try  a  little  more  persuasion.  May 
be  they'll  mend  their  old  tin  oven,  and  not  put  on  any  more 
airs.  But  I  don't  like  to  crawl,  although  it  don't  seem  to 
make  no  difference  whether  a  fellow  creeps  or  climbs — he's 
got  to  travel  on  all  fours." 

Fisk  then  wrote  a  courteous  note  to  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  relating  the  facts  in  the  matter  of  his  appli- 
cation, and  asking  for  permission  to  parade  with  his  regi- 
ment in  Boston,  on  the  day  named.  The  Governor's  reply 
was  equally  courteous,  and  the  permission  was  granted. 
Whereupon  Fisk  immediately  forwarded  the  following  pithy 
letter  to  Boston  : 

"  Head-quarters  Ninth  Regiment,  N.G.S.N.Y., 
"  New  York,  April,  lyth,  1871. 
"  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Mayor  of  Boston  : 

"  Dear  Sir. — On  the  5th  inst.  I  addressed  to  you  a  letter, 
asking  an  extension  of  hospitality  to  the  Ninth  Regiment, 
New  York  State  National  Guard,  which  letter,  I  understand, 
was  delivered  to  you  by  a  Committee  of  the  regiment,  and 
referred  by  you  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  I  infer,  from 
the  published  proceedings,  that  the  letter,  which  was  simply 
designed  to  obtain  your  official  permission  for  the  visit  of 
my  regiment,  was  misconstrued  into  an  application  for  spe- 
cial favors  at  the  expense  of  your  city,  a  perversion  for 
which  there  was  no  warrant  and  no  excuse.     The  reason  of 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  313 

my  application  to  you  was  that  (as  I  was  informed)  the  kiw 
of  your  State  did  not  allow  the  entry  of  an  armed  force 
without  the  sanction  of  the  Federal  Government,  or  of  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  State  or  city  to  be  entered.  Hav- 
ing waited  a  sufficient  time  for  your  decision,  and  my  rc^^i- 
ment  not  having  received  from  you  the  courtesy  of  a  reply, 
I  have  applied,  in  the  name  of  the  regiment,  to  His  Excel- 
lency, the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  for  permission 
to  enter  your  city,  and  he  has  most  courteously  and  promptly 
granted  the  request.  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  will  relieve 
the  Common  Council  from  further  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject, as  their  action  or  inaction  is  a  matter  of  perfect  indif- 
ference to  the  gentlemen  under  my  command. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obdicnt  servant,  . 

"  James  Fisk,  Jr., 

"  Colonel  Commanding." 

Colonel  Fisk  could  now  turn  up  his  nose  at  the  Boston 
City  Fathers.  This  he  and  the  gallant  Ninth  did  to  their 
hearts'  content,  while  they  busily  engaged  in  preparations  to 
take  the  Athens  of  America  by  storm.  The  day  fixed  for 
the  start  was  Friday,  June  i6th.  They  would  arrive  at 
Boston  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  take  part  in  the  ceremo- 
nies of  the  day,  and  remaining  over  Sunday,  would  return  to 
New  York  on  iMonday,  the  19th.  Fisk  knew  that  the  ap- 
pearance of  his  regiment,  with  himself  at  its  head,  marching 
to  the  music  of  the  largest  and  finest  band  in  the  United 
States,  would  create  a  sensation  ;  but  this  was  not  enough. 
Military  parades  were  common  things.  He  must  arrange 
for  the  production  of  a  novelty  which  should  be  the  talk  of 
the  whole  country.  The  following  was  thereupon  writtcii 
and  mailed  from  the  Regimental  Head-quarters : 


314  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"  New  York,  June  2,  1871. 
"  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Mayor  of  Boston  : 

"  Dear  Sir, — As  I  am  informed  that  your  city  ordinances 
prohibit  the  entry  of  any  regiment  upon  Boston  Common 
without  permission  from  the  Mayor,  I  respectfully  request 
permission  for  the  use  of  the  Common  by  the  Ninth  Regi- 
ment, N. G.S.N. Y.,  on  the  17th,  for  a  dress  parade,  and  on  the 
1 8th  for  public  religious  services. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  Colonel." 

"  What  will  this  man  Fisk  be  at  next?"  said  the  Bostonians 
when  the  above  letter  was  made  public. 

The  Mayor  laid  it  before  the  xVldermen,  and  the  Aldermen 
refused  to  allow  the  Common  to  be  desecrated  and  the  Sab- 
bath to  be  broken  by  the  praying  band  from  Gotham  under 
the  leadership  of  the  notorious  Colonel  Fisk.  Here  was  an- 
other snub.     x\gain  Fisk  wrote  : 

"Head-quarters  Ninth  Reg.,  N.G.S.N.Y., 

"New  York,  June  13 — 9^^  p.m. 

"  To  his  Honor  the  Mayor  of  Charlestown,  Mass. : 

"  I  am  at  this  moment  in  receipt  of  a  telegram  from  Boston 
announcing  that  the  Ninth  Regiment  are  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  holding  religious  services  in  any  public  place  in  Bos- 
ton, except  the  street,  on  Sunday  next.  Will  you  allow  the 
regiment  to  march  on  Sabbath  morning  to  your  hospitable 
city,  and  there  hold  religious  services  in  such  suitable  place 
as  you  may  designate  ?  If  Monument  Square  or  the  grounds 
surrounding  Bunker  Hill  Monument  are  subject  to  your  con- 
trol, allow  us  to  suggest  one  of  those  places.     Please  answer 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  315 

by  teleji^raph  at  earliest  moment,  in  order  that  a  Committee 
may  confer  with  you  on  Thursday. 

"  James  Fisk,  Jr., 

"  Colonel  Commanding." 

This  communication  was  also  submitted  to  the  Aldermen, 
and  after  giving  it  due  consideration,  they 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  esteems  it  a  pleasure  to  grant 
any  military  organization  all  the  courtesies  and  civilities  be- 
coming an  intelligent  community.  But  in  considering  the 
request  of  Colonel  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  for  permission  to  hold  re- 
hgious  services  in  the  open  air  with  his  regiment  on  Sunday 
the  1 8th  instant,  while  we  respect  the  object  of  the  request, 
we  feel  that  the  crowd  and  confusion  necessarily  attending  a 
parade,  would  certainly  ill  accord  with  the  proper  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath.  And  therefore,  as  a  matter  of  order 
and  regularity,  we  deem  it  inexpedient  to  grant  the  permis- 
sion required." 

The  Ninth  reached  Boston  on  the  morning  of  the  anniver- 
sary, and  were  complimented,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
election  of  the  new  Colonel,  by  being  received  with  military 
honors  by  one  of  the  best  of  the  Boston  regiments.  They 
took  part  in  the  celebration,  and  throughout  the  day  were 
the  centre  of  attraction.  The  streets  through  which  they 
marched  were  crowded  with  people  who  cheered  the  grati- 
fied Colonel  lustily.  In  the  evening  the  Ninth  Regiment 
Band  gave  a  concert  on  the  Common,  which  was  attended 
by  thousands,  who,  although  residents  of  a  city  justly  proud 
of  its  musical  talent  and  culture,  had  never  heard  anything 
to  equal  the  music  of  the  Gothamites. 

On  Sunday  morning.  Colonel  Fisk  having  received  per- 
mission to  hold  religious  services  in  the  open  air  (but  not  in 


3l6  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the  Common),  the  rain  came  down,  and  the  ardent  piety  of 
the  Ninth  cooled  wonderfully.  But  Fisk  had  determined  to 
have  a  praying  show,  and  he  had  it.  He  engaged  the  Bos- 
ton Theatre,  and  taking  the  band  and  the  members  of  the  ^ 
regiment  from  the  St.  James  Hotel  to  the  improvised  temple 
in  omnibuses,  he  prepared  for  business  with  his  customary 
vigor.  Crowds  of  people  already  thronged  the  house.  The 
rank  and  file  of  the  regiment  took  seats  in  the  auditorium, 
and  the  Colonel,  the  Chaplain,  and  the  musicians  occupied 
the  stage.  The  band  played  splendidly  and  were  applauded 
to  the  echo.  The  great  Levy  then  gave  one  of  his  wonder- 
ful solos,  and  then  the  Chaplain,  after  a  prayer,  preached  a 
short  sermon.  Colonel  Fisk,  elaborately  attired,  then  stepped 
to  the  edge  of  the  stage  in  front  of  the  foot-lights  and  said : 

"  Soldiers  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  and  Officers  of  the  Staff : 

"  On  the  morrow,  if  God  spares  us,  we  shall  get  back 
again  to  our  own  city,  or,  at  least,  to  the  city  where  you  be- 
long, for  I  can  scarcely  say  our  city,  because  I  belong  in  Bos- 
ton. This  is  my  residence.  I  can  hardly  express  to  you  the 
feelings  which  I  cherish  toward  you  all  for  the  manner  in 
which  you  have  fulfilled  all  your  duties  as  soldiers  on  this  oc- 
casion. You  have  again  ocgasion  to  feel  proud,  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  of  your  entire  behavior  from  the  time  you  left 
New  York  until  now.  I  can  only  thank  you  in  all  kindness, 
heartfelt  kindness,  that  you  have  done  now  as  you  always 
have  done  since  you  have  been  under  my  command ;  that 
you  have  again  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  performance  of 
your  duties,  and  that  you  have,  as  usual,  shown  your  willing- 
ness to  carry  out  every  wish  of  your  superior  officers.  It  is 
always  with  pride,  when  we  have  been  anywhere,  that  in 
after  times,  when  I  have  met  any  with  whom  we  have  been 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  317 

associated,  that  I  hear  of  the  proud  name  in  which  the  regi^ 
ment  is  spoken  of.  I  felt  certain  of  our  reception  in  Boston. 
I  felt  assured  of  your  conduct.  I  knew  what  the  result  would 
be.  But  a  very  unfortunate  mistake,  or  accident,  has  occurred 
with  regard  to  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  Boston — a  mistake 
I  would  gladly  have  avoided.  The  hospitalities  we  wanted 
extended  to  us  were  those  that  I  felt  we  would  be  sure  to  get, 
and  the  only  thing  that  has  gone  wrong  was  the  occasion 
which  has  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  offer  an  apology  to 
the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Boston,  in  behalf  of  my  regiment, 
when  passing  in  review.  We  did  not  know  that  he  was  to 
review  us.  I  saw  him  just  in  time  to  salute  him  myself,  but  the 
regiment  was  unable  to  salute  him,  for  there  was  not  time 
to  pass  the  word  down  the  line.  It  was  a  respect  which  we 
owed  to  him  in  his  position  as  chief  magistrate  of  this  city,  and 
it  is  right  that  the  regiment  should  apologize  ;  and,  therefore, 
Vv'hen  these  remarks  are  registered,  as  they  Avill  be  to-morrow 
when  we  have  returned  to  our  homes,  he  will  hear  that  we 
have  apologized  to  him  for  a  mistake  which  was  not  ours  ;  we 
should  have  been  notified.     (Applause  from  the  spectators.) 

"  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  kind  manner  in  which  the  military 
of  Massachusetts  have  received  us,  and  to  thank  the  citizens 
of  Massachusetts  and  those  of  other  States  for  the  exceed- 
ingly kind  welcome  they  have  accorded  us.  It  was  the 
only  welcome  we  wanted.  (Applause.)  The  matter  of  our 
hospitalities  and  expenses  were  borne  by  friends.  Hospi- 
talities, in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  we  can  carr}-  out  our- 
selves ;  but  the  spirit  evinced  by  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
as  we  passed  along  its  streets,  could  not  be  purchased.  It 
must  come  from  the  heart ;  from  the  good  feeling  they  bear 
toward  us ;  and  I  thank  them,  and  I  know  that  you  all  thank 
them  for  it.     In  the  future,  when  we  have  occasion,  and  ^ 


3l8  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

think -we  shall  have,  of  turning  from  the  City  of  New  York,  I 
shall  yearn  toward  Boston,  for  I  think  the  good  feeling  dis- 
played by  the  citizens  on  this  visit  would  bring  us  all  back 
here  the  next  season,  instead  of  anywhere  else.  Therefore, 
when  we  go  from  Boston,  I  will  say  for  myself  and  my  regi- 
ment, that  we  shall  carry  back  nothing  but  the  kindest  spirit 
toward  this  good  city.  There  should  have  come  up  no  '  ism  ;' 
there  should  have  come  up  nothing  to  say  that  we  should 
not  worship  God  how  and  where  we  pleased.  It  was  a  mis- 
take. Nobody  meant  wrong  toward  us,  and  I  was  sorry  to 
see  that  the  question  was  agitated  at  all.  1  do  not  believe 
that  the  signers  of  the  paper  said  to  have  been  sent  in  to  the 
Boston  city  government,  requesting  that  the  Common  should 
not  be  opened  to  us,  felt  any  differently  toward  us  than  did 
the  100,000  or  150,000  people  who  welcomed  us  so  warmly. 
We  will  cherish  no  bad  feeling  against  them.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve they  cherish  anything  against  us.  Again  let  me  thank 
them  for  all  they  have  done  for  us.  It  speaks  well  for  us  to 
exhibit  ourselves  in  full  ranks  to-day,  after  the  hard  labors 
of  yesterday,  and  reflecting  on  the  fact  that  a  leave  of  absence 
was  granted  from  9  o'clock  last  night  to  i  o'clock  to-day.  I 
am  told  that,  except  those  who  are  upon  the  sick  list,  every 
officer  and  private  is  present  here  this  afternoon,  and  I  am 
proud  of  the  Ninth.  Because  why? — whether  under  military 
rule  or  otherwise,  they  feel  a  pride  in  their  organization. 
They  take  pride  in  its  good  behavior,  take  them  where  you 
will.  You  have  planted  another  peaceful  battle  on  your  flag. 
Thanking  you  for  the  spirit  in  which  you  have  carried  out 
your  instructions,  and  that  you  have  done  what  is  right,  and 
discharged  your  duties  with  a  degree  of  merit  to  which  you 
always  aspire,  I  will  retire."     (Applause.) 

The  next  day  the  Ninth  returned  to  New  York. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  319 


CHAPTER    XXXII  I. 

The  I2th  of  July,  i87i,was  a  memorable  day  in  the  his- 
tory of  New  York.  The  Orangemen's  parade  had  been  pro- 
hibited by  the  Superintendent  of  Police,  but  at  i  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  their  anniversary,  Governor  Hoffman  revoked 
Superintendent  Kelso's  order  in  the  following  language  : 

".  .  .  .  I  hereby  give  notice  that  any  and  all  bodies  of 
men  desiring  to  assemble  and  march  in  peaceable  procession 
in  this  city  to-day,  the  12th  inst.,  will  be  permitted  to  do  so. 
They  will  be  protected  to  the  fullest  extent  possible  by  the 
mihtary  and  police  authorities." 

Notwithstanding  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Hoffman, 
revoking  the  order  of  Superintendent  Kelso,  and  insuring 
the  Orangemen  full  civil  and  military  protection  and  escort 
during  their  annual  parade,  it  was  felt  by  everybody  that  a 
street  conflict  between  the  Irish  Catholics  and  the  military 
and  police  was  inevitable;  and  the  order-loving  citizens  of 
New  York  soon  found  their  worst  fears  realized. 

At  two  o'clock  the  procession  formed.  It  was  led  by  250 
police,  after  whom  came  the  famous  Seventh,  then  the 
Twenty-Second,  then  the  Gideon  Lodge  of  Orangemen, 
about  100  strong;  then  the  Eighty-Fourth,  the  Sixth,  and 
the  Ninth  Regiments,  and  another  battaHon  of  police.  After 
many  false  starts  the  column  marched  about  two  blocks  down 
Eighth  avenue,  passing  Fisk's  Grand  Opera  House,  near 
which  point  stones  were  thrown  from  the  roofs  of  tenement 
houses  upon  the  Orangemen  and  their  escort.     About  mid 


320  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

way  between  27th  and  28th  streets  a  temporary  halt  was  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  immense  throng  blocking  the  streets. 
Here  the  mob  began  their  attack.  For  a  moment  the  sol- 
diers were  demoralized,  but  only  for  a  moment.  Volley  after 
volley  was  fired  into  the  crowd.  Fifty  people  were  killed 
outright,  and  more  than  a  hundred  left  writhing  in  pain  upon 
the  blood  -  stained  pavement.  Two  of  the  most  valuable 
members  of  the  Ninth  had  been  killed — Sergeants  Henry  E. 
Page  and  Samuel  Wyatt,  and  private  Walter  Pryor  mortally 
wounded  ;  and  their  brothers  in  arms  were  not  slow  to 
avenge  them.  Colonel  Fisk  was,  during  the  fight  the  victim 
of  a  ludicrous  accident,  and  the  hero  of  a  burlesque  tragedy 
for  ever  afterward.  The  story  is  here  given  in  his  own 
words : 

"  On  Tuesday  night,  about  12  o'clock,  I  called  on  Gover- 
nor Hoffman  and  Mayor  Hall  at  Pohce  Head-quarters,  and 
had  an  interview  with  those  officials  in  reference  to  my  regi- 
ment in  the  coming  trouble.  During  our  pow-wow  I  in- 
formed the  Governor  that  in  case  of  a  riot  I  expected  that 
the  23d  street  Ferry  and  the  Grand  Opera  House  would  be 
assailed  by  the  mob.  His  Excellency  concluded  to  let  the 
Ninth  regiment  protect  both  places.  There  being  a  rumor 
that  a  body  of  Orangemen  intended  crossing  the  23d  street 
Ferry  to  take  part  in  the  New  York  procession,  it  was  decided 
that  should  such  an  attempt  be  made,  the  ferry-boats  should 
be  Avithdrawn,  and  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  cross. 
Governor  Hoffinan  thought  he  should  have  enough  to  do  to 
protect  his  own  people,  and  was  not  willing  to  become  re- 
sponsible for  the  safety  of  those  belonging  to  any  other  city 
or  State.  I  then  left  them.  I  was  at  my  armory  before  8 
o'clock  next  morning,  and  a  few  of  my  men  having  already 
arrived,  I  sent  them  out  immediately  to  hurry  up  the  strag- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  32 1 

glers.  About  mid-day  a  messenger  arrived  from  the  Grand 
Opera  House  with  the  informrltion  that  a  large  number  of 
men  were  crossing  the  23d  street  Ferry.  I  immediately 
went  to  the  Opera  "House  and  sent  for  Jay  Gould.  I  wanted 
to  know  of  him  if  the  charter  would  be  violated  by  stopping 
the  ferry-boats.  Not  being  able  to  find  Gould,  I  took  the 
responsibility  upon  my  own  shoulders  and  telegraphed  to 
Mr.  Mcintosh,  agent  at  Jersey  City,  to  stop  running  the 
boats.     My  order  was  at  once  obeyed. 

"  Just  then  I  got  word  from  a  messenger  that  my  regiment 
was  forming  at  the  armory  and  was  making  ready  to  march. 
I  started  out  and  began  to  walk  back.  As  I  approached  24th 
street,  the  crowd  on  the  sidewalk  hooted  me  and  yelled  at 
me,  I  immediately' took  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  walked 
on  in  that  way  till  I  came  in  sight  of  the  Sixth  regiment  just 
ahead.  In  the  meantime  the  crowd  was  gathering  behind 
.me,  when  all  of  a  sudden  I  heard  a  shot,  and  felt  a  bullet 
whiz  past  me.  I  went  in  the  ranks  of  the  Sixth,  the  crowd 
continuing  their  hooting  until  I  got  to  my  own  regiment. 

"  I  had  left  my  regimental  coat  and  sword  at  the  armory, 
and  was  in  my  shirt  sleeves.  I  took  the  Major's  sword  and 
assumed  command,  after  despatching  a  messenger  to  the 
armory  after  my  dry  goods.  In  the  meantime  the  procession 
began  to  march,  and  soon  after  we  started  a  lot  of  bricks  and 
stones  were  thrown  at  us,  and  in  some  instances  shots  were 
dischai-ged.  As  for  the  order  to  fire,  my  men  received  in- 
structions before  leaving  the  armory  not  to  fire  olT  their 
pieces  until  they  should  be  assaulted  by  the  mob;  and  not  to 
fire  if  only  stones  should  be  thrown.  But  should  it  become 
so  hot  that  they  could  not  stand  it,  and  should  any  shots  be 
fired,  they  were  not  to  wait  for  any  oriders,  but  were  to  fire 
into  the  mob  and  protect  themselves. 


322  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  missiles  until  Walter  Pryor 
was  struck  by  a  bullet  in  the  knee,  and  Harry  Page  was  killed. 
I  was  standing  within  a  few  feet  of  him.  At  that  moment 
discharges  of  musketry  were  heard  from  the  head  of  the  line, 
and  my  men  becoming  excited  at  the  death  of  one  of  our 
best  members,  opened  fire  upon  the  mob.  My  regiment  was 
a  little  distance  behind  the  Sixth.  The  crowd  on  the  east 
side  of  Eighth  avenue,  into  which  the  troops  were  firing,  now 
came  rushing  between  the  two  regiments.  I  was  standing  in 
front  of  my  regiment  with  Major  Hitchcock's  sword  in  my 
hand.  The  mob  closed  in  upon  me  in  an  instant,  knocked 
me  down,  and  trampled  upon  me. 

"  After  the  croRvd  passed  me  I  tried  to  rise,  and  found  I 
was  hurt  about  the  foot.  I  cannot  say  whether  I  was  struck 
by  anything,  or  received  my  injuries  by  being  trampled 
upon.  Some  of  my  men  seeing  my  condition  carried  me  into 
a  bakery  close  by.  I  was  taken  to  the  second  story  and  the 
suro-eons  examined  my  foot  and  found  that  my  ankle  w^as  out 
of  joint.  They  took  hold  of  it  and  jerked  it  back  into  place. 
The  surgeons  then  left  me,  and  as  I  was  looking  out  of  the 
window  with  Captain  Spencer  I  saw  the  crowd  close  around 
the  two  men  of  my  regiment  who  had  been  left  in  charge  of 
Page's  body.  I  saw  a  man  make  a  thrust  at  one  of  them,  with 
a  sword-cane. 

"  The  next  thing  I  remember  was  hearing  an  Irishman, 
who  stood  in  front  of  the  bakery,  cry  out,  '  That  damned 
Colonel  Fisk  is  in  here.  Let's  go  in  and  kill  the  villain.' 
Others  said,  *  Hang  him.'  Crowds  began  to  gather  thick 
and  fast  about  the  door,  and  fearing  that  the  house  was 
about  to  be  sacked,  I  seized  a  heavy  cane  which  had  been 
given  me,  and  left  by  the  back  way.  I  must  have  jumped 
over  five  fences,  when   I  reached  a  house  through  which  I 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  323 

went,  and  attempted  to  pass  out  by  the  front  door.  Looking 
down  the  street  toward  Eighth  avenue,  I  saw  the  mob  still 
there.  Coming  down  Ninth  avenue  was  another  crowd — a 
hard  looking  set.  For  a  moment  I  thought  there  was  no 
possible  chance  of  escape,  but  on  glancing  across  the  street 
I  saw  a  door  open  and  ran  toward  it.  This  house  is  in 
Twenty-Seventh  street,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  avenues. 
1  went  through  the  hallway  to  the  yard.  Here  I  met  a  high 
fence.  I  found  a  barrel,  mounted  it,  and  climbed  over.  I 
climbed  several  more  fences  until  I  became  exhausted  at  last, 
and  started  for  a  house  fronting  on  29th  street.  Some  woman 
slammed  the  door  in  my  face.  Seeing  a  basement  window 
open,  I  crawled  into  it,  and  was  confronted  by  an  Irishman, 
who  wanted  to  know  what  it  all  meant.  I  explained  my  case 
to  him,  and  borrowed  a  pair  of  old  trousers,  an  old  hat,  and 
a  large  coat.  When  I  left  the  house  the  crowds  had  disap- 
peared from  29th  street,  having  followed  the  procession 
down. 

"  My  first  thought  was  now  for  a  carriage.  Seeing  none 
in  sight  I  limped  toward  Ninth  avenue,  and  looking  down 
the  street  I  espied  one  coming  up.  I  hailed  the  driver,  and 
looking  inside  saw  Ja}-  Gould.  The  driver  stopped,  but 
Gould,  not  knowing  me  in  my  disguise,  ordered  him  to  go  on 
again.  I  explained  who  I  was,  and  was  taken  in.  The  driver 
took  us  to  the  Hoffman  House;  but  I  had  not  been  there 
more  than  fifteen  minutes  before  a  mob  collected  around  the 
neighborhood.  Seeing  that  danger  still  followed  me,  I  or- 
dered another  coach,  and  was  taken  to  the  Pavonia  Ferry, 
where  a  number  of  our  tugs  are  generally  stationed.  I  got 
on  board  of  one  of  them  and  was  taken  to  Sandy  Hook. 
From  there  I  went  to  Long  Branch  in  the  cars.  I  did  not 
take  off  my  disguise  until  I  reached  the  Continental  Hotel." 


324  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Colonel  Fisk  appeared  for  the  last  time  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment  on  the  21st  of  November,  1871,  the  day  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Alexis's  arrival.  The  military  display  was  mag- 
nificent, and  the  Ninth,  with  its  splendid  band,  was  uproar- 
iously greeted  by  the  thousands  who  thronged  the  streets 
that  day.  Fisk  himself  was  warmly  received  by  the  popu- 
lace, and  was  as  happy  and  proud  as  a  king,  despite  the  fact 
that  on  passing  the  stand  at  Union  Square  he  was  hissed  by 
a  few  ill-bred  people  who  had  been  honored  with  special 
seats. 

That  evening  the  Grand  Duke  was  serenaded  by  the  band 
of  the  Ninth.  Thousands  of  people  crowded  the  streets  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  where  Alexis  was 
stopping,  and  the  marvelous  performance  of  Levy  and  his 
fellow  artists  evoked  thunders  of  applause.  Colonel  Fisk 
was  sent  for  by  the  Grand  Duke,  and  for  half  an  hour  or 
more  he  chatted  with  the  young  scion  of  royalty  with  all  the 
ease  and  abandon  which  ever  characterized  Jim  Fisk,  whether 
engaged  with  the  fireman  of  his  express  train,  with  the  bro- 
ker who  sold  his  stocks,  or  with  the  President  whom  he  de- 
sired to  win  over  to  his  side  in  gigantic  speculation. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  when  Cor- 
nelius S.  Bushnell,  of  Connecticut,  Mr.  Oakes  Ames,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  others,  were  laying  schemes  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  one  of  the  greatest  undertakings  ever  inaugu- 
rated, Mr.  Fisk  wanted  to  purchase  a  large  amount  of  stock 


GRAND   DUKE  ALEXIS   OF  RUSSIA. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  327 

by  paying  only  a  certain  per  cent,  of  the  value  down  (as  is 
generally  done  on  original  subscriptions),  that  he  might  have 
an  important  voice  in  the  councils  of  the  road.  He  fully  re- 
alized its  importance.  His  intellect,  whatever  may  be  said 
of  its  education,  was  broad-gauge  and  comprehensive  in  its 
range,  and  he  readily  foresaw  that  the  first  trans-continental 
railway  must  command  a  traffic  which  would  insure  its 
profitable  operation.  His  keen  wit  fully  understood  that, 
first,  a  scheme  of  so  gigantic  a  nature  would,  as  a  matter 
of  news,  be  thoroughly  heralded  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  Would  not  this  be  a  splendid  advertisement,  add- 
ing, gratuitously,  just  so  much  to  the  value  of  the  property? 
Fisk  was  not  slow  to  perceive  this  advantage,  as  well  as  the 
fact  that  from  its  peculiarly  national  character  it  would  re- 
ceive more  than  ordinary  support  in  various  ways.  Fisk 
wanted  to  get  in.  But  his  overtures  were  declined,  and  he 
was  permitted  to  have  only  so  much  stock  as  he  paid  the  full 
face-value  of  at  once.  This  offended  him,  and  he  was  bent 
on  some  action  which  would  show  the  Company  his  feelings 
regarding  what  he  considered  a  gross  violation  of  financial 
usage  in  similar  cases.  He  bought  a  half-dozen  shares  of  the 
Company's  stock.  Then  he  claimed  to  be  true,  what  was 
current  report  at  the  time,  that  the  Company's  affairs  were 
wrongfully  managed.  He  brought  suit  against  the  Company 
to  compel  them  to  make  known  its  affairs  to  him  as  a  stock- 
holder. Of  course  it  was  necessary  to  have  the  books  of  the 
Company  for  inspection.  The  officers  of  the  Union  Pacific 
declined  to  give  them  up,  Fisk  got  an  order  from  the  Court 
to  seize  them.  His  operations  in  accomplishing  that  pur- 
pose constituted  the  chief  sensation  of  that  time.  He  em- 
ployed twenty  swarthy  men,  muscular  mechanics,  who,  with 
sledge  hammers  and  cold  chisels,  repaired  to  the  office  in 
19 


328  LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF 

Nassau  street,  where  the  Company  had  locked  up  their  books 
in  a  huge  iron  safe.  The  men  began  work.  Mr.  Fisk  per- 
sonally directed  the  movements  of  the  men  under  his  con- 
trol, and  they  hammered  perseveringly.  Officers  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company  were  also  present,  but  they  were 
powerless  to  interfere,  for  the  mandate  of  the  Court  must  be 
obeyed.  Sledge  hammer  and  chisel  were  incessantly  plied. 
Financiers  of  all  grades  came  and  looked  on.  Meals  were 
furnished  the  workmen  on  the  spot,  and  the  onslaught  on 
the  safe  was  continued  without  ceasing.  Relays  of  men 
supplied  the  places  of  those  exhausted  by  labor.  At  last  the 
safe  was  opened,  and  the  books  brought  to  light.  The  affair 
at  the  time  was  looked  upon  as  the  culmination  of  Fisk's 
system  of  arbitrary  action.  While  it  was  perhaps  the  most 
plainly  visible  of  his  many  acts  of  force,  it  lacked  in  many 
ways  the  great  results  which  followed  many  others  of  his 
schemes.  But  it  had  one  immediate  result:  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Company  became  so  fearful  of  further  interference  from 
the  Courts  of  New  York,  that  it  moved  its  offices  to  Boston, 
opening  a  fine  establishment  on  State  street  of  that  city. 
During  the  beginning  of  1872  the  Company  returned  to  New 
York,  and  opened  offices  on  Broadway. 


^- 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  329 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

On  the  night  of  January  7th,  1871,  Edward  S.  Stokes  was 
arrested  at  the  Hoffman  House,  on  the  charge  of  embezzling 
money  from  the  Brooklyn  Oil  Refining  Company,  of  which 
he  was  a  stockholder  and  secretary.  He  lay  in  jail  that 
Saturday  night  and  all  day  Sunday  and  on  Sunday  night, 
but  on  Monday  he  was  bailed  out.  He  and  Jim  Fisk  were 
partners  in  the  Brooklyn  Oil  Refining  Company.  The 
examination  of  Stokes,  previous  to  his  release  on  bail, 
disclosed  the  fact  that  while  his  arrest  was  compassed  ap- 
parently by  the  instigation  of  another  man,  Fisk  was  really 
the  moving  spirit  in  the  matter.  And,  while  the  arrest  was 
ostensibly  on  the  ground  of  alleged  fraudulent  operations  on 
the  part  of  Stokes,  it  became  known  that  the  real  animus  in 
the  matter  was  a  personal  one.  It  appeared  that,  instead  of 
a  desire  to  punish  Stokes  for  embezzlement,  it  was  a  plan  to 
get  him  out  of  the  way  of  Mr.  Fisk.  There  was  a  woman  in 
the  case.  An  old  Turkish  pasha  said  that  whatever  crime 
man  committed,  he  cared  not  what  it  was,  there  was  a 
woman  at  the  bottom  of  it.  So  it  proved  in  this  case.  It 
appeared  that  the  real  object  of  Fisk  was,  not  to  punish 
crime,  but  to  gratify  revenge,  and  inspire  into  the  heart  of 
Stokes  sufficient  terror  to  prevent  him  from  paying  further 
attention  to  the  then  central  object  of  Fisk's  desire.  Miss 
Mansfield.  It  had  not  the  desired  effect.  Miss  Mansfield, 
while  she  had  had  no  real  love  or  passion  for  Fisk,  had  re- 
ceived him  as  her  lover,  for  his  money.     But  Stokes  she 


330  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

reall}-  loved ;  or  if  love  be  too  exalted  a  word  to  use  in  con- 
nection with  a  woman  so  worldly  and  designing,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  she  entertained  for  Stokes  an  ardent  passion.  This 
fact,  of  course,  Stokes  well  knew,  and  it  lent  him  courage  in 
his  combat  with  his  rival. 

Fisk,  who  thought  that  the  favors  he  had  done  Stokes  gave 
him  some  hold  on  Stokes's  regard,  asked  Stokes  to  give  up 
Mansfield  and  leave  the  field  to  him.  To  Fisk's  gfreat  sur- 
prise, Stokes  declined  to  do  so.  Fisk  was  astounded  to  find 
that  his  proposal  was  not  only  declined,  but  was  refused  con- 
temptLlousl3^  Stokes  had  become  so  thoroughly  infatuated 
with  the  voluptuous  object  of  their  mutual  admiration  that 
he  found  in  her  smiles  sufficient  inspiration  to  prompt  him  to 
open  warfare  with  the  Erie  Prince.  Fisk  tried  threats.  His 
power  had  always  been  enough  to  insure  regard  for  his 
orders.  But  in  this  case  he  found  opposed  to  him  a  power 
which  not  only  "laughs  at  locksmiths,"  but  which  he  soon 
found  was  strong  enough  to  actually  set  him  at  defiance. 
He  found  that  Stokes's  admiration  for  Mansfield  was  enough 
to  make  him  set  Fisk,  or  the  world,  for  that  matter,  at  de- 
fiance. Stokes  made  light  of  Fisk's  commands.  It  was  then 
that  Fisk  lost  the  feeling  of  kindliness  for  Stokes  which  had 
before  characterized  his  associations  with  him,  and  resolved 
on  using  his  power  to  crush  him.  Stokes  had  usurped  his 
place  in  love,  and  then  defied  him.  Fisk  was  intent  on  re- 
venge. 

Soon  Stokes  was  informed  that  certain  lucrative  contracts, 
which  he  held  with  the  Erie  Railway,  were  rescinded.  Next 
he  was  aSked  to  sell  out  his  share  in  the  Brooklyn  Oil  Refin- 
ing Company,  or  to  buy  out  all  the  other  owners.  He 
accepted  the  latter  alternative,  and  an  agreement  as  to  price 
was  fixed  between  him  and  Fisk;  but  the.  other  owners  in 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  331 

the  Company  declined  to  assent  to  the  arrangement  made  by 
Fisk,  and  it  fell  through.  Stokes,  thinking  to  effect  some 
sort  of  compromise  in  the  matter,  sent  to  Fisk  a  note,  request- 
ing his  presence  at  Delmonico's,  thinking  that  by  a  confer- 
ence the  difficulty  might  be  settled.  Fisk  came.  On  reach- 
ing the  appointed  rendezvous,  he  made  a  remark  which,  at 
the  time,  was  copied  into  nearly  every  newspaper  in  the 
Union : 

"  I  thought  I  could  cut  nearer  a  man's  heart  than  any  man 
in  New  York,  but  you  go  plump  through  it." 

This  interview  promised  little  result.  Of  course,  the  only 
thing  which  would  satisfy  Fisk  was  Stokes's  abdication  of  the 
throne  of  the  house  of  Mansfield.  Stokes,  satisfied  of  his 
own  ascendancy  in  the  affections  of  their  mutual  inamorata, 
suggested  to  Fisk  that  they  leave  it  to  Josic  herself  to  say 
which  she  loved  best.  Fisk  jumped  at  the  proposal.  He 
thought  that  Josie  loved  him  best.  The  wily  Stokes  thought, 
and  with  good  reason,  that  Josie  loved  him  best.  So,  the 
two  men  repaired  that  night  to  Josic's  house.  Josie,  like  the 
shrewd  financier  that  she  is,  refused  to  decide.  She  loved 
Stokes,  and  why  should  she  not  keep  him .?  She  liked  Fisk's 
money,  and  why  should  she  not  keep  him,  too  ?  The  confer- 
ence was  a  long  and  stormy  one.  Of  course,  Josie  did  not 
openly  divulge  her  motives  in  refusing  to  decide.  She 
simply  maintained  a  masterly  inactivity.  And  as  for  Stokes, 
he  knew  full  well  the  real  status  of  the  case,  and  was  satisfied 
to  be  quiescent.  It  remained  for  Fisk  to  do  the  fighting,  and 
he  did  it  in  his  characteristic  way,  and  with  a  degree  of 
manliness  which  fully  exhibited  the  better  side  of  his  nature. 
He  said  to  Josie : 

"  It  won't  do,  Josie.  You  can't  run  two  engines  on  one 
track  in  contrary  directions  at  the  same  time." 


333  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

The  interview  was  prolonged  into  the  small  hours  of  the 
night,  and  there  were  tears  shed,  criminations  and  recrimina- 
tions were  made,  and  an  angry  dispute  took  place.  Fisk  was 
firm.  But  so  was  the  politic  Josie.  She  refused  to  decide 
between  them.  It  was  then  that  Fisk  resolved  to  abandon 
Josie,  and  wreak  vengeance  on  his  rival. 

Pity  it  is  that  the  infatuated  man  could  not  then 

"  Remember  Milo's  end, 
Wedged  in  the  oak  he  strove  to  rend." 

Stokes  was  arrested  for  embezzlement,  the  charge  was  dis- 
missed, and  Fisk  was  bitterly  chagrined. 

Fisk  had  told  Josie  that  she  was  the  power  behind  the 
throne.  The  meaning,  or  the  application  of  the  term  was 
never  explained.  It  may  have  signified  that  Josie  knew  all 
of  Fisk's  secrets  in  connection  with  Erie  and  with  the  Tam- 
many Ring.  At  any  rate  she  did  know  his  secrets,  and  she 
had  divulged  them  to  Stokes.  The  latter  made  a  claim 
against  Fisk  for  $200,000,  threatening  that  if  the  money  were 
not  paid,  all  of  Fisk's  letters  to  Josie  should  be  published. 
Fisk  gave  815,000. 

Then  the  heartless  Mansfield  sued  Fisk  to  recover  $50,000, 
which  she  claimed  to  have  given  to  him  to  invest  for  her. 
Then  she  brought  another  suit  against  him  for  libel.  She 
charged  that  Fisk  had  decoyed  a  servant  from  her  house,  and 
had  induced  him  to  make  an  affidavit,  charging,  falsely,  that 
she  and  Stokes  had  plotted  to  levy  black-mail  upon  Fisk.  The 
servant's  affidavit  had  been  published  ;  hence  the  suit.  Fisk 
appeared  and  gave  bail,  on  the  i8th  of  November,  1871. 
Josie  was  not  present  when  the  case  was  called,  so  the  Ad- 
miral, dressed  in  his  full  naval  uniform,  was  obliged  to  go 
and  return  three  or  four  days  later.     This  was  on  the  25th. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  333 

The  Mansfield  was  put  upon  the  stand  and  subjected  to  a 
very  severe  examination.  The  scene  in  the  court-room  was 
very  exciting.  The  case  was  again  postponed  till  January 
6th,  1872,  and  as  it  was  the  direct  cause  of  the  murder,  her 
evidence  is  here  given  nearly  in  full : 

A. — I  commenced  to  fight  at  about  the  time  the  waiter, 
King,  left  me.  Fisk  persecuted  me  by  taking  and  buying  my 
servants  from  me. 

Q. — Have  you  personal  knowledge  of  that? 

A. — Personally  I  was  not  there  when  he  did  so.  I  spoke 
from  my  information  and  belief.  Mr.  Courtenay,  my  counsel, 
wrote  the  letter  to  Sweeney.  There  was  not  a  stenographer 
at  my  house  more  than  once  taking  notes,  to  the  best  of  my 
memory. 

Mr.  Beach. — I  see  that  Mr.  Stokes  has  taken  his  seat  be- 
hind me.     I  would  prefer  he  would  leave  that  position. 

Mr.  Stokes,  who  was  sitting  near  the  stove,  removed  to 
another  seat. 

A. — 1  am  acquainted  with  Miss  Annie  Wood ;  first  knew 
her  in  Washington,  six  years  ago ;  do  not  recollect  meeting 
her  at  19  Brevoort  place.  I  never  asked  her  to  introduce 
me  to  Mr.  Fisk.  I  did  not  say  that  my  dress  was  the  best  I 
had  in  the  world,  and  that  I  wanted  to  know  Colonel  Fisk,  as 
I  wanted  a  living.  No  appointment  was  made  to  meet  him. 
George  Butler,  the  Minister  to  Egypt,  was  not  there.  I  was 
not  poor,  and  therefore  could  not  say  I  was.  I  boarded  in 
Lexington  avenue,  but  never  met  Miss  Wood  after  being  in- 
troduced to  her  at  her  house  in  Twenty-fourth  street.  1 
did  not  tell  Miss  Bishop,  in  Lexington  avenue,  that  Mr. 
Fisk  had  taken  a  fancy  for  me,  but  had  not  done  anything 
for  me. 

Mr.  McKeon  objected  to  this  line  of  examination  as  irrele- 


"334  LIFE   AND    TIMES   OF 

vant  and  unjust.  These  questions  had  been  suggested  for  an 
object. 

Mr.  Beach  admitted  that  the  questions  had  been  suggested 
to  him  but  not  by  Mr.  Fisk, 

Mr.  McKeon. — No,  but  by  some  one  ready  to  do  his  dirty 
work. 

Mr.  Beach. — I  did  not  come  here  to  throw  dirt  at  my  op- 
ponents. 

Mr.  McKeon. — Let  the  counsel  confine  himself  to  relevant 
matters. 

Mr.  Beach. — We  have  a  right  to  show  that  she  wanted  to 
black-mail  Mr.  Fisk,  and  that  she  declared  she  did  not  love 
him,  and  only  wanted  his  money. 

Mr.  McKeon.— I  see  only  amatory  matters. 

Mr.  Beach. — Mr.  McKeon  is  suggesting  thoughts  that 
occur  to  himself,     (Laughter.) 

The  Court  ruled  out  this  line  of  examination. 

Examination  continued. — A. — Miss  Wood  did  not  repl)^  to 
me,  "  You  could  hav^e  got  more  out  of  him  if  you  had  been 
smart."  I  did  not  say,  "  I  do  not  love  him,  but  I  will  get  all 
the  money  out  of  him  I  can." 

Mr.  McKeon  objected.  This  was  only  intended  for  the 
newspapers. 

Mr.  Beach  said  this  was  one  of  the  facts  going  to  show  the 
black-mailing. 

Ruled  out  and  exception  taken. 

Mr.  Beach  under  these  rules  did  not  wish  to  pursue  an  ex- 
amination which  might  hurt  the  feelings  of  the  lady. 

Judge  Bixby-. — I  don't  see  what  these  questions  have  to  do 
with  the  case. 

Mrs.  Mansfield. — I  have  never  shown  a  disposition  to  black- 
mail Mr.  Fisk. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  335 

Mr.  Beach.— Well,  that  is  for  others  to  judge  ;  but  I  do 
not  wish  to  pursue  the  examination  further. 

A. — I  have  met  Nelly  Pearce  in  Twenty-fourth  street;  Mr. 
Stokes  may  have  been  tliere ;  we  had  no  conversation  about 
making  money  out  of  Mr.  Fisk ;  did  not  say  to  her  that  if 
she  should  stick  by  me,  she  should  have  her  share ;  I  gave 
the  letters  to  Mr.  Stokes,  but  not  for  any  black-mailing  pur- 
pose. , 

Mrs.  Williams  was  called  and  examined  by  Mr.  McKeon. 

A. — I  reside  in  the  same  house  with  Mrs.  Mansfield  ;  she  is 
my  cousin  ;  King  was  a  waiter  man. 

Mr.  McKcon  read  King's  affidavit,  previously  pubHshed. 

A. — No  such  conversations  as  those  charged  in  the  affi- 
davit took  place. 

Cross-examined. —  A. — I  was  married  in  March,  1864,  in 
Boston;  took  up  my  residence  with  my  cousin,  Mrs.  Mans- 
field, years  ago ;  met  Mr.  Stokes  there  two  years  ago  ;  he 
came  there  once  in  a  while;  perhaps  he  came  there  three  or 
four  times  a  week  for  a  year  and  a  half. 

Mr  McKcon. — I  will  put  Mr.  Stokes  on  the  stand. 

A. — He  has  taken  meals  there  once  in  a  while  ;  three  or 
four  times  in  a  month  ;  other  persons  have  dined  there  ;  but  I 
don't  wish  to  drag  into  the  case  the  names  of  innocent  par- 
ties. King  generally  attended  at  the  table.  Besides  King, 
there  were  Mary  Gillhally,  and  Frances,  the  cook.  No 
conversation  took  place  on  the  subject  of  obtaining  money 
from  Mr.  Fisk  ;  don't  think  there  was  ever  any  alhision  made 
to  him  at  the  table  or  in  the  presence  of  King.  The  diffi- 
culties with  Mr".  Stokes  were  never  alluded  to.  Her  general 
habits " 

Mr.  Beach. — I  don't  mean  her  general  habits  ;  that  would 
involve  an  extensive  range  of  inquiry.     (Laughter.) 


336  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Edward  S.  Stokes  called,  and  examined  by  Mr.  McKeon. 
— I  reside  at  the  Hoffman  House  ;  I  know  Richard  E.  King 
[His  affidavit  read.]  No  such  conversation  as  that  alluded 
to  by  King  ever  took  place. 

Cross-examined.— I  am  thirty  years  of  age  ;  have  resided 
at  the  Hoffman  House  since  last  July  ;  I  have  a  family  ;  first 
became  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Mansfield  in  Philadelphia; 
the  meeting  v^as  purely  accidental ;  I  would  rather  not  say 
who  else  was  present;  first  visited  Mrs.  Mansfield  in  this 
city  in  company  with  Mr.  Fisk ;  it  was  about  two  years  ago  ; 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  occasionally  visiting  her  ;  I  may 
have  visited  her  about  ten  times  during  a  month  ;  had  no 
stated  times  of  calling  on  her;  have  not  called  upon  her 
every  day  for  the  last  six  months  ;  have  taken  dinner  there  ; 
that  was  the  only  meal ;  never  went  there  by  appointment. 

Mr.  Beach.— You  knew  what  the  dinner  hour  was.  No 
doubt  she  gave  elegant  dinners.  I  should  like  to  have  been 
there  myself     (Laughter.) 

O.— Have  you  not  threatened  to  pursue  Mr.  Fisk? 

A.— I  have  threatened  to  pursue  my  law-suit ;  I  have  said 
so,  in  a  legal  way,  but  not  physically  ;  I  have  threatened  to 
expose  the  way  I  have  been  swindled  by  him,  but  no  other 
publications  ;  you  and  I  have  had  some  private  conversations 
about  settling  with  him  ;  I  have  made  propositions  for  an 
arbitration  ;  have  no  recollection  of  making  other  proposi- 
tions ;  I  have  remarked  that  I  would  crush  him  in  a  legal 
way  ;  I  said  I  would  lay  the  papers  before  the  Legislature  ;  I 
thought  that  would  injure  him  ;  Mr.  Fisk  lived  with  Mrs. 
Mansfield,  at  her  house,  for  a  year  after  I  commenced  going 
there ;  I  should  think  it  was  more  than  a  year  ago  ;  never 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  domestic  department  of  the 
house;  I  did  not  discharge  Steers,  the  coachman;  I  did  it 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  337 

for  Mrs.  Mansfield  ;  I  know  nothing  about  Mrs.  Mansfield's 
establishment;  I  paid  the  coachman  with  her  money;  never 
made  any  other  payments  ;  I  have  slept  in  the  house  a  few 
times,  three  or  four  times  during  two  years  ;  I  have  stayed 
there  all  night  when  it  was  very  stormy  ;  I  have  often  stayed 
there  late  in  the  evening,  probably  after  midnight  ;  some- 
times there  would  be  a  great  many  friends  in  the  house  ;  Mrs. 
Mansfield  may  have  been  there  alone  ;  Mrs.  WiUiams  was 
generally  in  the  house  ;  I  have  not  spent  late  houi-s  in  the 
evening  alone  with  Mrs.  Mansfield — am  positive  of  that ;  the 
acquaintance  was  an  ordinary  one  between  a  ladv  and  gen- 
tleman. 

Mr.  Beach. — Did  any  familiarity  take  place  between  you 
and  Mrs.  Mansfield  inconsistent  with  your  position  as  the 
head  of  a  family  ? 

District-Attorney  Fellows  objected  to  any  evidence  that 
may  tend  to  scandalize  the  witness. 

Mr.  Beach. — I  am  not  going  to  press  any  question  of  that 
character. 

Witness. — There  was  nothing  improper  between  us. 

Mr.  Beach. — That  depends  upon  opinions.  I  repeat  the 
question  ? 

Witness. — No,  I  should  say  not ;  I  answer  the  question 
without  any  mental  evasion. 

Mr.  Beach. — Is  that  question  answered  in  reference  to  your 
peculiar  opinions  as  to  propriety  and  impropriety  ? 

Witness. — Yes,  sir ;  I  have  had  conversations  with  King  ; 
have  talked  of  my  difficulties  with  Fisk,  but  never  at  the 
table  ;  it  was  a  very  unpleasant  subject  to  talk  about ;  have 
not  talked  to  Mrs.  Mansfield  about  the  amount  of  money  Mr. 
Fisk  ought  to  pay,  that  I  remember ;  I  furnished  the  money 
for  ^Irs.  Mansfield's  stables  ;  I  know  of  Belle  Laude. 


h 


;33  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

"  Spin,  spin,  Clotho,  spin  ; 

Lachesis  twist  and  Atropos  sever  ; 
For  in  the  shadow,  year  out,  j'ear  in, 
The  silent  headsman  waits  forever." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  examination,  Stokes  accompanied 
Mrs.  INIansfield  to  her  residence,  in  Twenty-third  street.  He 
was  seated  with  her  in  the  parlor,  when  the  door-b-ell  rang, 
and  a  friend  entered  and  told  Stokes  that  he  had  been  in- 
dicted by  the  Grand  Jury,  and  that  a  bench  warrant  was  out 
for  his  arrest.  He  sprang  from  his  seat  with  an  oath,  and 
hastily  donning  his  hat  and  overcoat,  hurried  from  the  house. 
He  went  direct  to  the  Grand  Opera  House,  and  inquired  for 
Colonel  Fisk.  When  he  was  told  that  the  Colonel  was  not 
there,  he  hailed  a  coupe,  and,  springing  in,  slammed  the 
door,  and  told  the  driver  to  drive  to  the  Grand  Central 
Hotel.  When  he  arrived  at  the  hotel,  he  jumped  out  of  the 
coup6,  and  bidding  the  driver  to  wait  for  him,  went  up- 
stairs, and  made  a  search  through  the  parlors  of  the  house, 
and  was  about  to  descend  the  stairs,  when  he  encountered 
Fisk,  who  was  on  his  way  up. 

John  Chamberlain  left  Colonel  Fisk  in  the  Grand  Opera 
House  at  half-past  three  o'clock.  The  Colonel  was  in  good 
spirits.  As  Chamberlain  reached  Eighth  avenue,  he  noticed 
Edward  S.  Stokes  looking  up  at  the  Opera  House  out  of  a 
coup6  which  was  going  up  the  avenue.  Chamberlain  then 
went  down  to  see  a  friend  on  Broadway,  and  while  there, 


i^ 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  339 

was  informed  —  at  half-past  four  o'clock — that  Stokes  had 
shot  and  killed  Fisk. 

The  long-  and  searching  cross-examination  of  Stokes,  on 
the  day  before,  was  to  be  followed  by  a  more  humiliating^ 
one  on  Saturday  of  the  next  week.  Judge  Beach  was  ex- 
pected to  draw  out  all  the  facts  having  relation  to  his 
past  life  ;  his  association  with  prize  -  fighters,  gamblers, 
jockeys,  and  bad  women  ;  and  his  motive  in  committing 
the  deed  of  blood  was  plain.  Add  to  this  that  he  had  been 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  Providence  (R.  I.)  Trotting 
Association,  to  answer  to  charges  of  fraud  on  the  turf;  and 
that  the  Grand  Jury  had  indicted  him  for  the  crime  of  at- 
tempting to  black-mail  James  Fisk,  and  the  desperation  of 
the  hot-blooded  and  unscrupulous  man  may  be  readily  un- 
derstood. 

Stokes,  knowing  that  Fisk  was  about  to  visit  the  Morse 
family,  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel,  drove  to  the  private  en- 
trance, descended  from  his  carriage,  entered  the  door,  and 
mounted  the  stairs.     This  was  at  four  o'clock.. 

At  a  quarter  past  four,  Fisk  drove  up  to  the  same  entrance, 
and  stepping  out  of  his  carriage,  inquired  of  the  door-boy, 
John  Redmond,  if  Mrs.  Morse  and  her  daughters  were  in. 
This  Mrs.  Morse  is  the  widow  of  the  friend  of  Colonel  Fisk, 
who  broke  his  neck  while  bathing  in  Lake  Ponchartrain, 
near  New  Orleans. 

The  hall-boy  answered  that  he  thought  Mrs.  Morse  and 
her  eldest  daughter  had  gone  out,  but  that  the  younger  Miss 
Morse  was  in  her  grandmother's  room.  Colonel  Fisk  re- 
quested the  boy  to  show  him  up,  and  the  two  started,  Colo- 
nel Fisk  leading. 

At  that  moment,  and  before  Colonel  hisk:  had  mounted 
more  than  two  steps,  Stokes  suddenl}'  made  his  appearance 


340  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

from  some  place  of  concealment,  and  a  shot  rang  out,  which 
struck  Fisk  in  the  abdomen,  two  inches  to  the  right  of  the 
navel  and  three  inches  above  it,  passing  downward,  back- 
ward, and  to  the  left,  inflicting  a  terrible  wound.  Fisk  fell, 
shouting  "  Oh  !"  and  immediately  scrambled  to  his  feet  again, 
when  Stokes  again  levelled  his  revolver  and  fired  another 
shot,  the  ball  passing  through  and  out  of  Fisk's  left  arm 
without  touching  the  bone.  Fisk  turned  to  run,  but  fell  a 
second  time  and  slid,  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  where 
he  was  picked  up  by  the  crowd,  who  had  gathered  on  hear- 
ing the  report  of  the  pistol,  and  carried  up-stairs  to  rooms 
214  and  215,  where  he  was  laid  upon  the  bed,  and  the  house 
ph3'sicians  summoned. 

Stokes  meantime  had  passed  quietly  down-stairs  into  the 
office,  where  he  made  the  remark  that  a  man  had  been  shot 
down-stairs.  The  hall-boy  said,  "  Yes,  and  you  are  the  man 
that  did  it."  Stokes  made  no  reply,  but  calmly  awaited  ar- 
rest, word  having  been  sent  to  the  Mercer-street  Police-sta- 
tion, whence  Captain  Burns  and  officer  McCaddon  soon  ar- 
rived and  took  the  murderer  into  custody.  Dr.  Tripler  was 
in  Fisk's  room  within  a  few  minutes  of  the  shootmg,  and 
probed  the  wound  in  the  abdomen,  without  success,  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  the  ball.  He  made  him  as  comfortable 
as  possible,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  other  surgeons, 
who  had  been  sent  for,  before  proceeding  further. 

Soon  after  this  Police  Surgeon  Beach  made  his  appear- 
ance, quickly  followed  by  Drs,  White,  Folsom  and  Wood. 
Upon  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Wood  a  consultation  immediately 
took  place,  when  it  was  decided  to  hold  an  examination  and 
extract  the  ball  if  possible.  Jay  Gould,  James  Irving,  Wil- 
liam M.  Tweed,  John  Chamberlain,  Jay  Gould's  clerk,  Mrs. 
and  the  two  Misses  Morse,  Colonel  Hooper  and  wife,  Colo- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  34! 

nel  Fisk's  brother-in-law  and  sister,  and  several  other  rela- 
tives were  present,  having  come  in  response  to  telegrams 
stating  the  Colonel's  condition.  No  one  else — not  even  the 
reporters — were  admitted  into  the  room. 

The  longest  probe  in  possession  of  the  physicians  failed  to 
sound  the  ragged  wound.  When  the  probe  was  first  in- 
serted, Colonel  Fisk  complained  that  it  hurt  him.  Pre- 
viously he  did  not  seem  to  be  in  any  pain  whatever — a  bad 
sign — and  chatted  gayly  with  his  friends  and  attendants. 
He  never  made  any  allusion  to  Stokes,  however.  The  sur- 
geons were  obliged  to  administer  chloroform  before  they 
could  proceed  with  the  examination.  While  under  the  in- 
fluence, Fisk  suddenly  arose  in  a  sitting  position,  and  they 
were  compelled  to  jump  upon  him  and  hold  him  down. 
Very  little  hemorrhage  was  found,  and  it  was  therefore  con- 
cluded that  none  of  the  large  vessels  had  been  penetrated. 
It  was  feared,  however,  that  the  ball  had  gone  through  the 
liver,  and  the  chances  were  thought  to  be  against  his  re- 
covery. It  was  finally  decided  that  a  further  consultation 
would  be  held  at  1 1  o'clock,  when  the  question  would  be 
decided  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  perform  an  operation 
for  the  purpose  of  finding  the  ball.  It  was  deemed  advisa- 
ble to  have  Dr.  Lewis  A.  Sayre  present,  as  Colonel  Fisk  had 
expressed  great  anxiety  to  secure  his  services.  Telegrams 
and  carriages  were  immediately  dispatched  in  every  direc- 
tion in  search  of  Dr.  Sayre,  and  the  other  physicians  retired 
to  await  his  arrival. 

Colonel  Fisk  immediately  after  coming  to,  noticed  that 
his  diamond  stud  was  missing  from  his  shirt.  He  asked 
where  it  was,  and  on  being  informed  that  one  of  the  ladies 
had  found  it,  said,  "  All  right !''  and  resumed  his  former  good 
spirits.     About  this  time — 6  o'clock — David  Dudley  Field, 


342  '  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

his  counsel,  arrived,  and  was  at  once  admitted  to  an  audi 
ence.  Colonel  Fisk  greeted  him  heartily,  and  expressed  a 
desire  to  make  a  will.  The  veteran  lawyer  at  once  set  about 
the  necessary  preparations,  and  under  the  Colonel's  dicta- 
tion drew  up  the  document  in  legal  form.  Colonel  Fisk 
could  not  tell  how  much  his  property  amounted  to,  but  he 
devised  the  whole  of  it,  whatever  it  might  be,  to  his  wife,  his 
father,  and  his  sister.  This  done,  it  was  thought  best  to  put 
the  Colonel  under  the  influence  of  morphine,  and  he  was 
soon  in  a  sound  sleep. 

Previously,  however,  officer  McCaddon  took  Stokes  up  to 
Fisk's  room,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  identify  him  as  the 
man  who  shot  him.  Fisk  positively  identified  Stokes  as  the 
man  who  shot  him.  Stokes  said  not  a  word.  Officer  Mc- 
.Caddon  then  escorted  his  prisoner  to  the  Mercer-street  Po- 
lice Station,  where  he  was  placed  in  the  Captain's  private 
room.  Captain  Byrnes,  after  informing  him  that  he  could 
answer  or  not  as  he  chose,  asked  him  what  he  had  to  say 
about  the  shooting.  Stokes  replied  that  he  had  nothing  to 
say,  and  would  say  nothing.  The  Captain  then  asked  his 
name  and  address,  which  he  also  refused  to  give.  "  There 
is  one  question  I  must  ask  you,"  said  Captain  Byrnes. 
"What  did  you  do  with  the  pistol?"  Stokes  laughed  and 
declined  to  tell.  The  Captain  afterward  found  it  under  a 
lounge  in  one  of  the  parlors  of  the  hotel,  where  Stokes  had 
evidently  thrown  it  after  committing  the  murder.  It  is  an 
entirely  new  revolver,  of  Colt's  latest  pattern,  a  four-shooter, 
largest  size,  and  carrying  a  half-ounce  ball.  Two  chambers 
only  had  been  discharged,  which  sets  at  rest  the  rumors 
current  that  three  shots  had  been  discharged  at  Fisk. 

Coroner  Young  was  summoned  at  once,  and  at  half-past 
six  had  reached  the   hotel,  where  he  organized  a  jury  and 


— '-T 

-!    -\ 

!" 

■M'IMLl 

1 : 

^l^-- 

2 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  345 

proceeded  to  take  Colonel  Fisk's   ante-mortem  statement. 
This  was  before  the  morphine  was  administered. 


fisk's  ante-mortem  deposition. 

At  an  inquest  in  Grand  Central  Hotel,  before  Coroner 
Young  and  the  foUowifig-named  jurors,  Isaac  W.  England, 
141  East  Thirty-ninth  street ;  Charles  F.  Moore,  143  West 
Twentieth  street ;  W.  O.  Chapin,  273  Eighth  avenue ;  John 
L.  Hall,  178  Jay  street,  Brooklyn;  Edward  C.  Morse, 
Grand  Central  Hotel ;  E.  T.  T.  Marsh,  41  West  Ninth 
street,  Mr.  James  Fisk,  Jr.'s  ante-mortem  deposition  was 
taken,  as  follows : 

"  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  being  sworn,  says  :  This  afternoon,  about 
half-past  four  o'clock,  I  rode  up  to  the  Grand  Central  Hotel. 
I  entered  by  the  private  entrance,  and  when  I  entered  the 
first  door  I  met  the  boy,  of  whom  I  inquired  if  Mrs.  Morse 
was  in.  He  told  me  that  Mrs.  Morse  and  her  youngest 
daughter  had  gone  out,  but  he  thought  the  other  daughter 
was  in  her  grandmother's  room.  I  asked  him  to  go  up  and 
tell  the  daughter  that  I  was  there.  I  came  through  the 
other  door,  and  was  going  up-stairs,  and  had  gone  up  about 
two  steps  wdien,  looking  up,  I  saw  Edward  S.  Stokes  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs.*  As  soon  as  I  saw  him  I  noticed  he  had 
something  in  his  hand,  and  a  second  afterward  I  saw  the 
flash  and  heard  the  report  and  felt  the  ball  enter  my  abdo- 
men on  the  right  side.  The  second  shot  was  fired  imme- 
diately afterward,  which  entered  my  left  arm.  When  I  re- 
ceived the  first  shot  I  staggered  and  ran  toward  the  door, 
but  noticing  a  crowd  gathering  in  front,  I  ran  back  on  the 
stairs  again.  I  was  then  brought  up-stairs  in  the  hotel.  I 
saw  nothing  more  of  Stokes  until  he  was  brought  before  me 
20 


34^  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

by  an  officer  for  identification.     I  fully  identified  Edward  S. 
Stokes  as  the  person  who  shot  me. 

"  Signed.  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

John  T.  Redmond,  a  door-keeper,  the  only  witness  exam- 
ined, testified  as  follows : 

About  4  P.  M.,  Mr.  Stokes  arrived  at  the  Grand  Central 
Hotel,  and  passing-  through  the  private  entrance,  ascended 
the  stairs.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Fisk  arrived  in  a  coach,  and  on 
inquiring  of  the  door-keeper,  Redmond,  if  Mrs.  Morse  was 
in,  Avas  answered  in  the  negative.  He  then  requested  Red- 
mond to  see  if  her  daughter  was  in,  and  on  his  consenting 
they  both  passed  up-stairs,  Fisk  in  advance.  When  they  ar- 
rived about  half-way  up-stairs,  a  shot  was  fired,  and  Mr. 
Fisk  fell  on  the  stairs,  crying,  "  Oh  !"  Redmond,  on  looking 
where  the  shot  came  from,  saw  Stokes  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs  with  a  revolver  in  his  hand,  and  on  Fisk  rising  to  his 
feet  shot  him  again,  and  Fisk,  falling,  slid  to  the  bottom  of 
the  stairs.  Rising  to  his  feet  again,  he  ascended  the  stairs, 
where  friends  assisted  him  to  the  reception-room.  Stokes 
then  passed  into  the  office,  and  word  was  sent  to  the  station. 

Captain  Burns  and  Officer  McCadden  proceeded  to  the 
hotel,  w^hcre  they  arrested  him.  Surgeon  Beach,  being  tele- 
graphed for,  arrived,  and  on  examining  Mr.  Fisk's  injuries, 
found  him  to  have  received  two  wounds — one  in  the  right 
arm,  the  ball  striking  just  above  the  elbow,  passing  inside 
of  the  bone,  and  out  at  the  back  of  the  arm.  The  other  ball 
entered  the  abdomen,  about  three  inches  above  and  two 
inches  to  the  right  of  the  umbilicus,  passing  downward,  and 
inward,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  longest  probe.  The  wound 
in  the  abdomen  was  a  ghastly  one. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  347 

The  jury  found  the  foHowinf^  verdict : 

'^'That  the  said  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  received  his  injuries  by  a 
pistol-shot  at  the  hands  of  Edward  S.  Stokes,  at  the  Grand 
Central  Hotel,  January  6th,  1872." 

Coroner  Young  then  arrested  the  following  witnesses  of 
the  affray  : — Thomas  Hart,  bell-boy,  Grand  Central  Hotel ; 
Benjamin  C.  Allen,  hackman  (drives  house  stage),  Fourth 
avenue  ;  John  T.  Redmond,  hall-boy.  Sixty-second  street, 
near  Tenth  avenue  ;  and  Patrick  McDonnell,  engineer, 
Grand  Central  Hotel.  The  coroner  took  the  deposition  of 
Redmond,  who  was  just  behind  Fisk  at  the  time  of  the  shoot- 
ing, and  remanded  all  four  to  the  Mercer-street  Station- 
house. 

The  jury  were  temporarily  discharged,  to  await  the  result 
of  Col-  Fisk's  injuries.  Coroner  Young  then  visited  Stokes 
in  the  station-house,  but  the  murderer  refused  to  answer  the 
the  most  ordinary  questions.  The  coroner  thereupon  made 
out  a  commitment,  consigning  him  to  the  Tombs  without 
bail.  The  Hon.  John  McKeon,  of  his  counsel,  had  mean- 
time arrived,  and  cautioned  him  to  say  nothing  whatever  to 
anybod}^  in  compliance  with  which  caution  he  declined  to 
avail  himself  of  a  formal  examination.  Soon  afterward,  the 
Hon.  W.  O.  Bartlett  and  Willard  Bartlett,  Esq.,  Stokes's 
other  counsel,  entered  the  station-house,  and  were  admitted 
to  an  interview  with  their  client  and  Mr.  McKeon.  They 
agreed  with  the  latter  in  the  propriety  of  refusing  to  answer 
all  questions. 

At  II  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  January  7,  1872,  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  breathed  his  last,  surrounded  by  his  wife,  mother, 
father,  and  a  number  of  friends. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  fact  of  the  decease  of  the  strange 
character  who  had  within  five  years  risen  from  poverty  to 


348  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

affluence,  and  had  made  himself  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
age,  was  known  all  over  the  city,  and,  indeed,  all  over  the. 
world.  Thousands  of  people  thronged  the  pavements  and 
street  in  front  of  the  hotel,  and  crowded  the  corridors  and 
lobbies.  Most  of  these  had  come,  no  doubt,  to  satisfy  a 
morbid  curiosity,  but  there  were  many  lingering  around 
the  portals  of  the  house  whose  feeling  at  poor  Fisk's  death 
was  one  of  unalloyed  sorrow. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

After  the  body  had  been  prepared  for  burial,  it  was  taken 
through  the  rear  end  of  the  hotel,  and  hastily  removed  in  a 
hearse  to  No.  313  West  Twenty-third  street. 

The  inquest  was  held  in  the  court-room  of  the  Special 
Sessions,  in  presence  of  five  hundred  people.  Stokes  appear- 
ed calm  and  unmoved.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Helen 
Josephine  Mansfield  was  not  present.  The  jury  was  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  best  citizens  of  New  York. 

John  T.  Redmond  was  the  first  witness  examined.  In  re- 
ply to  Coroner  Young,  he  testified  as  follows : 

Q.  Where  do  you  live  ? — A.  At  No.  62  Tenth  avenue. 

Q.  What  is  your  business  ? — A.  Hall-boy  at  the  Grand 
Central  Hotel. 

Q.  Were  you  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  on  Saturday 
last  ? — A.  I  was,  sir. 

Q.  What  were  you  doing? — A.  Cleaning  the  window. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  349 

Q,  What  window  ? — A.  The  window  of  the  private  door. 

Q.  About  what  time  was  that  ? — A.  About  4  o'clock. 

Q.  Now  tell  the  jury  what  took  place  at  that  time  ? — A. 
About  4  o'clock,  Mr.  Stokes  entered ;  about  ten  minutes 
afterward,  Mr.  Fisk,  in  a  carriage,  drove  up  to  the  door;  I 
opened  the  door  for  him  ;  he  then  spoke  to  me,  and  asked 
me  if  Mrs.  Morse  was  in ;  I  told  him  Mrs.  Morse  and  her 
eldest  daughter  were  out ;  he  then  asked  if  the  other  daugh- 
ter was  in ;  I  said  I  would  see  ;  Mr.  Fisk  then  ascended  in 
advance  of  me;  when  he  liad  gone  up  some  steps,  the  first 
shot  was  fired,  and  Mr.  Fisk  fell  down,  cr^nng,  "  Oh !"  He 
then  turned  round  to  go  up  again,  when  the  second  shot  was 
fired. 

Q.  He  asked  you  if  Mrs.  Morse  was  in  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  He  then  asked  if  the  other  daughter  was  in  ? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  go  up-stairs  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  Mr.  Fisk  was  in 
advance  of  me  ;  after  the  first  shot  he  fell  down,  crying, 
"Oh!" 

Q.  When  Mr.  Fisk  fell  down,  what  did  he  do  ?— A.  He 
got  up  on  his  feet. 

Q.  And  after  the  second  shot? — A.  He  fell  down  about 
six  steps. 

Q.  What  did  Mr.  Fisk  do  then  ? — A.  He  got  up  and 
walked  to  the  base  of  the  stairs ;  he  turned  round  and  looked 
up  the  stairs  to  see  if  Mr.  Stokes  was  there  or  not ;  he  was 
not,  and  Mr.  Fisk  walked  up  the  stairs,  and  then  some  ladies 
were  led  into  the  reception-room  by  some  gentlemen. 

Q.  Well? — A.  I  saw  no  more  of  the  parties  until  Mr. 
Stokes  was  recognized  by  INIr.  Fisk. 

Q.  Where  was  this? — A.  Room  No.  213,  Grand  Central 
Hotel. 


350  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  Were  you  present  when  he  recognized  him? — A.  I 
was,  sir. 

Q.  You  say  )-ou  looked  up  and  saw  Mr.  Stokes  ?- — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  At  what  time  ? — A.  After  the  first  shot  was  fired. 

Q.  Where  was  Mr.  Stokes  standing  ? — A.  At  the  head  of 
the  stairs,  with  his  left  arm  on  the  balustrade. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  whether  Mr.  Stokes  had  anything  in 
his  hand  ? — A.  He  had. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  what  it  was  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  hear  any  words  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  was  it  before  Colonel  Fisk  came  that  Mr. 
Stokes  arrived  ? — A.  Inside  of  ten  minutes. 

O.  Did  Mr.  Stokes  go  immediately  up-stairs? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

O.  Did  he  ask  any  questions  as  he  came  in? — A.  No,  sir; 
not  a  word. 

O.  You  say  that  Mr.  Fisk  looked  up  the  stairs  to  see  if 
Mr.  Stokes  was  there  ?— A.  I  did  not  say  that,  sir ;  I  looked 
up  the  stairs  to  see  if  Mr.  Stokes  was  there. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner  inquired  whether  he  could  not 
put  questions  to  the  witness  ? 

The  Coroner  stated  that  all  questions  so  submitted  should 
be  put  in  writing. 

Counsel  contended  that  questions  could  be  put,  and  that 
the  Coroner  had  discretion  to  receive  or  reject  them. 

The  Coroner  said  the  reason  he  wanted  the  questions  in 
writing  was  that  they  should  not  be  made  public  by  being 
openly  asked  in  court,  as  many  of  such  questions  might  not 
be  entertained.     He  desired  to  proceed  regularly. 

Counsel  submitted  that  it  was  most  important  that  the 
public  should  know  what  questions  were  allowed  and  what 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  351 

were  disallowed,  in  order  to  restrain  the  spirit  which 
seemed  to  have  taken  possession  of  the  community.  They 
had  a  riglit  to  know  whether  the  examination  was  conducted 
as  free  from  a  spirit  of  restraint,  as  it  should  be. 

Counsel  then  submitted  the  following  questions  in  writ- 
ing : 

Q.  Had  you  ever  seen  Mr.  Stokes  before  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  How  was  Mr.  Stokes  dressed  on  that  occasion  ? — A. 
Dressed  as  he  is  now. 

Q.  You  say  that  this  occurrence  took  place  at  four  o'clock  ; 
how  do  you  fix  the  hour  ? — A.  It  was  twenty  minutes  past 
three  when  I  commenced  cle:;^ning  the  windows,  and  it  was 
twenty-five  or  thirty  minutes  of  four  when  Mr.  Stokes  came  in. 

Q.  Was  there  any  light  in  the  hall  or  on  the  stairway  ex- 
cept that  from  the  windows  ? — A.  There  was  one  light  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs  and  one  on  the  left. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner. — Were  they  burning  ? 

The  Coroner. — It  must  have  been  burning,  or  it  could  not 
have  been  a  light. 

Q.  From  what  direction  did  Stokes  come — up  or  down  the 
stairway  ? — x\.  1  don't  know,  sir. 

Q.  You  did  not  see  him  until  he  entered  the  hall  ? — A.  No, 
sir. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  whether  any  person  had  gone  up  the 
stairway  between  the  time  Fisk  and  Stokes  came  ? — A.  No, 
sir  ;  I  did  n't  notice. 

O.  Did  Mr.  Stokes  go  in  by  the  private  entrance  ? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

By  a  Juror. — Q.  How  many  shots  were  fired  ? — A.  Two. 

Q.  Did  you  hear  the  shot  fired  before  you  heard  Mr.  Fisk 
exclaim  ? — A.  The  first  shot  was  fired,  and  after  I  looked  up- 
stairs. 


352  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  Where  was  Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  At  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

Q.  In  what  position  was  he? — A.  He  was  standing  near 
the  balustrade,  like  this.  [Witness  showed  by  comparison 
in  what  position  the  accused  stood  at  the  time  referred  to.] 
He  had  his  left  hand  on  the  balustrade. 

Q.  You  observed  something  in  his  hand  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  When  was  that  ? — A..  After  the  first  shot  was  fired,  and 
before  he  fired  the  second  shot. 

Q.  You  saw  something  in  his  hand  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Can  you  tell  what  he  had  in  his  hand  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  any  light  proceed  from  the  article  Mr. 
Stokes  had  in  his  hand  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  say  you  were  present  when  Mr.  Fisk  recognized 
Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  said  ? — A.  The  officer  said,  ''  Who  caused 
this?"  and  Mr.  Fisk  said,  "  Mr.  Stokes." 

Q.  Is  that  all  he  asked  ? — A.  That 's  all  that  v/as  asked  in 
my  presence. 

A  Juror. — Was  there  any  other  person  standing  at  the 
head  of  the  stairway  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Did  any  person  come  in  between  the  time 
Stokes  entered  and  Fisk  entered  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

The  Coroner. — Was  it  the  same  person  who  entered  the 
hotel  that  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  was  it  before  any  person  came  to  the  rescue? 
— A.  I  cannot  say. 

Q.  Did  you  sec  any  one? — A.  I  saw  several  gentlemen 
going  into  the  reception-room. 

Q.  Who  were  those  gentlemen  ? — A.  I  don't  know. 

Q.  Were  they  in  Mr.  Fisk's  room  afterward  ? — A.  They 
brought  him  into  the  reception-room. 

Q.  After  the  first  shot  was  fired  you  say  you  saw  Stokes 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  353 

leaning  against  the  balustrade.  In  what  position  was  his 
arm  having  something  in  the  hand  ? — A.  He  was  like  this, 
(witness  showing  position,)  with  the  right  hand  down. 

Q.  Was  he  pointing  it  toward  Mr.  Fisk  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  After  Mr.  Fisk  was  shot,  who  assisted  him  to  his  room  ? 
— A.  I  don't  know. 

Q.  You  did  n't  hear  Mr.  Fisk  say  that  Mr.  Stokes  was  the 
man  who  shot  him? — A.  No,  sir;  he  only  said,  "That's  the 
man." 

Q.  Were  3^ou  in  the  room  when  Stokes  was  brought  in  ? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Were  you  in  the  room  all  the  time  Mr.  Stokes  was 
there  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Then  Mr.  Stokes  was  still  there  when  you  left  ? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

O.  How  long  were  you  in  the  room  ? — A.  About  half  a 
minute ;  Mr.  Crawford  called  me,  saying  he  wanted  me,  but 
he  did  not  say  what  he  wanted  me  for  when  I  went  into  the" 
room. 

Mr.  McKeon  here  rose  and  contended  that,  if  qtiestions 
were  submitted  to  witnesses  it  was  right  that  the  persons  ask- 
ing them  should  be  known,  that  the  proper  responsibility 
should  attach  to  them  ;  if  they  were  Erie  Railroad  people,  let 
them  come  on. 

The  Coroner  submitted  that  he  did  not  recognize  the  Erie 
Railroad  people  in  the  case.  He  did  not  know  but  the  ques- 
tion had  been  asked  by  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner. 

Q.  Was  there  any  light  in  the  hall  stairway,  except  what 
daylight  there  was  ? — A.  There  was  a  gaslight. 

Mr.  McKcon  insisted  that  it  was  proper  to  know  what 
parties  were  represented.  He  would,  therefore,  ask  on  whose 
behalf  Mr.  Beach,  Mr.  Fullerton,  and  Mr.  Spencer  appeared  ? 


354  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Assistant  District- Attorney  Sullivan  said  he  did  not  intend 
to  say  anything  as  representinj^  the  District-Attorney,  except 
when  called  upon  by  the  Court  to  give  advice.  If  there  were 
any  citizens  who  felt  that,  this  being  a  public  matter,  they 
could  throw  any  light  on  the  investigation,  they  were  cer- 
tainly at  liberty  to  do  so. 

Mr.  jSIcKeon  said  he  would  ask  the  Coroner  whom  Mr. 
Beach  represented. 

The  Coroner  said  he  would  put  the  question  in  accordance 
with  the  requisition. 

Mr.  Beach  said  that,  like  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  he 
appeared  there  as  a  citizen  deeply  interested  in  the  question. 
He  came  there  at  the  suggestion  of  the  surviving  relatives 
of  Mr.  Fisk — not  retained  by  the  Erie  Railroad.  He  came 
there  influenced  only  by  the  desire  to  see  the  way  in  which 
the  melancholy  occurrence  took  place. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner  replied,  and  said  that,  once  for  all, 
he  wanted  to  have  his  position  understood.  He  had  come 
there,  not  to  get  up  a  heat,  but  to  prevent  heat  getting  up. 
They  had  only  to  look  at  the  press  of  that  morning.  The 
public  had  not  got  the  truth  of  the  case.  He  did  not  want 
the  facts  to  go  before  the  public  in  a  garbled  form.  They 
were  told  in  the  papers  that  before  thirty  days  Mr.  Stokes 
would  be  condemned.  Now,  he  meant  to  say,  and  he  said  it 
on  his  own  responsibiHty,  knowing  what  he  was  saying,  that, 
if  the  facts  were  properl}^  developed,  in  less  than  thirty  days 
the  public  would  be  strongly  in  Stokes  s  favor  I  If  the  facts 
were  properly  spread,  the  sympathy  for  him  would  be  as 
great  as  the  feeling  was  now  against  him. 

Mr.  Fullerton  said  he  intended  to  remain  silent.  The 
question  put  was  suggested  by  himself,  in  order  to  elicit  the 
truth  of  the  case.     In  due  time  it  would  appear  to  be  proper. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  355 

Mr.  McKeon  concurred  in  the  opinion,  that  the  public 
would  be  as  much  in  favor  of  Stokes  as  their  feeh'ngs  were 
now  against  him.  The  people  little  knew  what  had  been 
existing  in  their  midst. 

By  the  Coroner. — Had  you  ever  seen  Mr.  Fisk  before  that 
day  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  knew  him  when  you  saw  him  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  (Submitted.)  Will  you  say  no  person  passed  up  or 
down  the  stairway  between  the  entrance  of  Mr.  Stokes  and 
Mr.  Fisk  ? — A.  There  was  nobody. 

Q.  Can  you  describe  the  gaslight  you  saw  burning,  if 
any  ? — A.  The  gaslight  at  the  licad  of  the  stairs  had  a  single 
jet,  it  was  turned  on  full ;  the  other  one  round  to  the  left 
was  not  turned  on  full  ;  but  it  was  burning.  Thai's  all  the 
gas  that  was  there. 

Q.  What  colored  pantaloons  had  Mr.  Stokes  on. — A.  Light. 

Q.  From  which  way  did  Mr.  Fisk  come — which  way 
were  the  horses  heading? — A.  Toward  Bleecker  street. 

By  a  Juror. — As  the  gas  was  situated,  could  the  burner  be 
seen  from  the  head  of  the  stairs? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  The  object  of  that  light  is  to  light  the  stairway  ?  —  A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Testimony  of  Thomas  Hart.  Q.  Where  do  you  reside  ? — 
A.  Grand  Central  Hotel. 

Q.  What  is  your  business  ? — A.  Door  boy. 

Q.  Were  you  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  on  Saturday 
afternoon  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  anything  unusual  on  Saturday  after- 
noon ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  About  what  hour? — A.  Five  minutes  to  four  o'clock. 

Q.  What  were  you  doing  at  that  time?  —  A.  Cleaning 
the  globe  at  the  head  of  the  stairs. 


356  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

B}'  the  Coroner.— How  far  from  the  head  of  the  stairs? 
— A.  Between  five  and  six  feet. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Mr.  Fisk  on  that  day  ?— A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Where  was  he? — A.  He  was  coming  up  the  stairs. 

Q.  What  stairs  ? — A.  The  private  stairs. 

O.  Where  did  those  stairs  lead  ? — A.  To  the  stairway  from 
Broadway. 

Q.  Leading  to  the  stairway  on  which  you  were  standing  ? 
— A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  anybody  with  him  ? — A.  I  did  not  see  anybody. 

Q.  Did  you  hear  him  say  anything  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  anybody  else  there  ? — A,  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Who  ?— A.  Mr.  Stokes. 

Q.  Were  you  acquainted  with  Colonel  Fisk  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ; 
I  saw  him  coming  in  and  out. 

Q.  Were  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Stokes  ?— A.  No,  sir ; 
I  might  have  seen  him  passing  by. 

Q.  Where  did  you  see  Mr.  Stokes? — A.  Coming  along 
the  hall  from  the  first  parlor. 

A  Juror. — First  parlor  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  as  you  go 
up  ? — A.  To  the  left. 

By  the  Coroner. — Was  there  anybody  with  Mr.  Stokes7 — 
A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Fisk  going  up-stairs? — A.  When  I  first  saw 
Mr.  Fisk  he  was  going  down  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs. 

Q.  Tell  us  exactly  what  occurred — what  you  saw  and 
what  you  heard. — A.  I  was  going  up  the  stairs ;  the  other  boy 
was  cleaning  the  window  ;  I  looked  down  and  saw  Mr.  Fisk 
coming  up ;  my  attention  was  drawn  to  Mr.  Stokes,  a  kind 
of  stealing  along  ;  he  acted  like  a  man  who  had  suddenly 
seen  some  one ;  I  heard  him  say,  "  Come  along,  I  have  got 
you  now,"  or  something  to  that  effect. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  357 

Q.  Can  you  remember  the  exact  words? — A.  "  I  have  got 
you  now,"  and  with  that  he  fired  two  pistol  shots  ;  at  that 
time  Mr.  Fisk  was  standing  with  one  foot  on  the  first  step 
and  one  on  the  second;  "Sir.  Fisk  cried,  "Oh,  don't!"  and 
the  second  time  he  sHd  down  stairs.  I  saw  Mr.  Stokes 
draw  his  right  hand  toward  his  overcoat ;  Mr.  Stokes  after- 
wards said  to  me,  "There's  a  man  shot;"  and  said  I,  "You 
are  the  man  that  shot  him  ;"  he  walked  to  the  first  parlor 
and  turned  to  his  left,  and  made  a  motion  with  his  hand,  as 
if  he  was  throwing  something  away;  I  cannot  say  what  it 
was  ;  I  followed  him,  and  he  went  into  the  hall,  and  going 
up  the  centre,  he  said,  "  There's  somebody  shot,  go  and  see 
him."  Patrick  McGowan,  Benjamin  and  Patrick  FarrcU  came 
up ;  Mr.  Powers  afterwards  came  into  the  hall,  and  having 
heard  that  there  was  a  man  shot,  said,  "  Stop  that  man  ;"  Mr. 
Stokes  was  then  taken  to  the  bar  ;  Mr.  Powers  said,  "  Bring 
in  an  officer."  That  is  all  I  saw  or  know  of  the  case. 
Mr.  Stokes  went  up-stairs  with  an  officer,  and  was  iden- 
tified. 

Q.  Were  you  in  the  room  at  the  time  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  I  was 
not. 

Q.  Are  you  positive  you  cannot  mistake  as  to  the  two 
gentlemen,  Mr.  Fisk  and  Mr.  Stokes? — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  am 
positive. 

Q.  In  what  position  was  Stokes  standing  ? — A.  Standing 
at  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

Q.  He  had  something  in  his  right  hand? — A.  Yes,  sir; 
but  I  cannot  say  what  it  was.  [Witness  endeavored  to  show 
the  position  in  which  Mr.  Stokes  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs.] 

A  Juror. — What  was  your  relative  position  to  Mr.  Stokes? 
— A.  I  was  about  six  feet  beyond  Mr.  Stokes. 


35S.  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Another  Juror, — Were  you  standing  with  your  back  to 
him  ? — A.  Looking  right  at  him. 

Mr.  Field. — How  much  time  elapsed  between  the  first 
shot  and  the  time  you  saw  Mr.  Stokes  concealing  something 
in  his  overcoat? — A.  About  three  seconds. 

Q.  The  two  shots  were  then  fired  without  any  interval  ? — 
A.  Yes. 

By  another  Juror. — Did  you  see  the  flash  from  the  pistol? 
— A.  I  did  not. 

Q.  Were  there  banisters  on  both  sides  of  the  stairs? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Could  you  see  the  carriage  driving  up  from  the  parlor 
window  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr  Field.— Had  you  passed  the  parlor  door  before  Mr. 
Stokes  came  up  ? — A.  I  had  not,  sir. 

Another  Juror. — Did  you  assist  Mr.  Fisk  when  he  got  to 
the  head  of  the  stairs  ? — A.  No,  sir  ;  I  followed  Mr.  Stokes. 

Q.  Did  Mr.  Stokes  have  his  overcoat  buttoned  at  the 
time  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Was  there  sufficient  gas-light  to  recognize  a  person  ? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  was  the  gas-light  then? — A.  It  was  not  fully 
turned  on. 

Q.  Does  that  light  throw  light  upon  the  stairway? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  the  light  sufficiently  bright  to  recognize  a  person 
by  his  dress  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner.— Are  you  sure  it  was  five  minutes  to  4 
o'clock  when  Mr.  Fisk  entered  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  a  Juror.— How  did  Mr.  Stokes  move,  did  you  say  ? — 
A.  He  came  along  as  if  he  was  stealing  away  ;  as  if  some- 
body was  coming. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  359 

Q. — Did  you  judge  that  by  his  expression  or  by  his  walk? 
— A.  By  his  walk. 

By  another  Juror. — Did  you  keep  watch  on  him  after  he 
was  arrested  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  he  walking  rapidly,  or  was  he  walking  stealthily'  ? 
— A.  He  was  stealing  along  by  the  wall. 

By  the  Coroner. — Had  you  seen  Mr.  Stokes  that  evening, 
before  you  saw  him  coming  up  then  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  had  any  conversation  with  him  in  regard  to 
the  testimony  you  were  to  give  about  it  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Field. — Have  you  been  interviewed  by  any  reporter  ? 
— A.  No,  sir.  I  gave  the  same  testimony  at  the  Fifteenth 
Precinct,  on  the  ante-mortem  examination,  as  I  give  here. 

By  the  Coroner. — Have  any  of  the  three  gentlemen  here, 
Mr.  FuUerton,  Mr.  Spencer,  or  Mr.  Beach,  had  any  conver- 
sation with  you  in  regard  to  the  testimony  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  don't  know  whether  Mr.  Stokes  had  a  cane  or 
not  ? — A.  I  did  not  see,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  know  a  man  named  Patrick  Hart  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  his  business  ? — A.  He  was  working  in  the 
house,  in  the  employ  of  the  Grand  Central  Hotel. 

Q.  Did  you  see  him  there  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence? 
— A.  No,  sir  ;  I  did  not. 

Q.  Do  you  know  Mr.  Spencer? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Mr.  Fullerton  ?— No,  sir. 

Q.  Mr.  Beach  ?— A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  know  Mr.  Beach  ;  I  saw 
him  in  Troy. 

Q.  Has  he  conversed  with  you  about  this  affair  ? — A.  No, 
sir  ;  nobody  has  conversed  with  me. 

Q.  Could  you  have  failed  to  see  a  cane  if  Mr.  Stokes  had 
one  ?— A.  He  might  have  carried  it  in  his  left  hand  ;  but  1 
watched  his  right. 


360  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

By  Mr.  Opdyke. — Fisk  and  Stokes  were  the  only  persons 
there  ? — A.  Yes,  sir  ;  except  the  boy. 

By  another  Juror. — You  say  )^ou  only  watched  his  right 
hand.  Did  you  suspect  there  was  something  wrong  by  his 
walk  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Had  you  ev?r  seen  Fisk  and  Stokes 
together  before  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  hear  any  words  between. Stokes  and  Fisk? — A. 
No,  sir. 

By  a  Juror. — When  he  was  going  to  the  head  of  the  stairs 
he  made  the  remark  you  mentioned  ? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Could  he  see  an}^  person  on  the  stairs 
when  he  began  to  use  those  words  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

O.  Did  you  see  any  one  on  the  stairs  ? — A.  Nobody  but 
the  boy  and  Mr.  Fisk. 

Q.  Did  Stokes  make  any  other  remark  ? — A.  No  ;  he  did 
not  make  any  remark  until  Mr.  Fisk  was  ascending. 

Q.  How  far  was  Mr.  Fisk  from  Mr.  Stokes  at  the  time  he 
made  the  remark  ? — A.  About  six  steps. 

By  a  Juror. — How  many  steps  are  there  ? — A.  About 
twenty. 

Q.  Then  there  is  a  landing  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  he  was  six  steps  from  the  first  landing? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  In  what  position  was  Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  He  kept  close 
to  the  wall. 

Q.  How  many  steps  separated  them  when  you  heard  the 
first  pistol  shot  ? — A.  About  four. 

By  another  Juror. — Did  you  notice  him  fall? — A.  I  saw  him 
stagger. 

By  the  Coroner. — I  understood  you  to  say  you  expected 
something  wrong  when  you  saw  Stokes  advmcing.     If  you 


■^  f^ 


'^1  Jy 


f  \l 


THE  I.UNCII   HKi-OKK  TIIK   MUKDER. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  363 

suspected  something  wrong  why  did  you  not  give  the  alarm? 
A.  I  don't  know  exactly ;  I  thought  Mr.  Stokes  was  watch- 
ing for  a  lady  when  I  saw  him  stealing  along. 

By  a  Juror. — Did  Mr.  Stokes  walk  right  up  the  stairs,  or 
was  he  crouching  along  ? — A.  He  was  walking  along  the  wall. 

O. — How  many  shots  were  fired  ? — A.  Only  two. 

Q.  That  you  are  sure  of? — Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  3'ou  positive  Mr.  Fisk  entered  the  passage-way 
before  Stokes  reached  the  head  of  the  stairs? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  By  the  time  he  had  his  head  turned  around  had  Mr. 
Fisk  already  entered  ? — Yes,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Do  you  know  that  you  would  be  guilty 
if  you  did  not  give  the  alarm  in  case  you  suspected  anything 
wrong? — No,  sir;  I  did  not. 

Q.  Has  Mr.  Beach  been  present  at  any  time  when  you 
have  made  any  statement  in  reference  to  this  occurrence? — 
A.  No,  sir ;  I  have  not  seen  Mr.  Beach  before  I  have  seen 
him  here. 

By  a  Juror. — You  made  no  effort  to  seize  Mr.  Stokes  after 
he  fired  ? — A.  No,  I  thought  to  catch  him,  but  he  went  away 
too  quickly. 

By  another  Juror. — You  kept  him  in  view  all  the  time  ? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Testimony  of  John  Chamberlain. — Q.  Where  do  3'ou  re- 
side?—A.  No.  8  West  Twenty-fifth  street. 

Q.  What  is  your  business  ? — A.  A  speculator. 

Q.  Were  you  acquainted  with  Colonel  Fisk? — A.  I  was, 
sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  him  on  last  Saturday  evening  ? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  Where  did  3'ou  see  him? — A.  In  the  Erie  Railway 
office. 

21 


364  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  At  what  time  did  you  see  him  ? — A.  I  went  there  at 
tw* o  o'clock,  and  remained  there  until  between  three  and  half- 
past  three ;  that's  about  the  time  ;  it  was  not  later  than  that. 

Q.  Did  you  leave  him  at  the  Erie  office  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Mr.  Stokes  on  that  day? — A.  I  did,  sir. 

O.  Where  did  you  see  him  ? — A.  I  saw  him  between  three 
and  half-past  three,  as  I  drove  across  Eighth  avenue  ;  just  as 
I  crossed  the  track,  I  saw  him  sitting  on  the  right  in  a  coup6, 
with  his  eyes  looking  tow-ard  the  Erie  building. 

Q.  At  what  time? — A.  Near  half-past  three. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Mr.  Stokes  after  that  day  ? — No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Mr.  Fisk? — A.  Yes;  I  saw  him  wdien  he 
was  dead. 

Q.  Where  w^as  the  coup6  of  Mr.  Stokes? — A.  He  was 
driving  towards  the  Opera  House;  I  was  going  the  other 
way  ;  he  got  so  far  that  he  could  see  the  windows  of  the  Erie 
office  ;  he  was  sitting  close  to  the  right-hand  corner;  I  don't 
think  he  saw  me. 

Q.  By  a  Juror. — Was  the  carriage  in  motion? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Where? — A.  On  Eighth  avenue  and 
Twenty-third  street, 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  of  the  occurrence  that  took 
place  at  the  Grand  Central  ? — A.  On  my  way  down  I  stopped 
at  a  store,  and  I  think  about  five  or  a  quarter-past  five  I  heard 
of  the  occurrence  ;  I  didn't  think  it  was  probable,  having  seen 
Mr.  Fisk  so  recently  before. 

Q.  How  long  after  you  saw  Mr.  Stokes  was  it  until  you 
heard  it  ? — A.  About  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Fisk's  carriage  in  front  of  the  building  when 
you  left  ? — A.  I  did  not  look. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  365 

Q.  Did  Mr.  Fisk  say  anything  to  you  about  being  threat- 
ened ? — A^  No. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  appointment  he  had  to  come  down 
to  the  Grand  Central?— A.  I  do  not ;  when  I  was  at  the  Erie 
office  somebody  called  me  into  Mr.  Gould's  room  ;  I  stayed 
there  ten  or  fifteen  minutes;  I  did  not  see  the  Colonel  in  his 
office  after  that;  when  I  came  down  Broadway  somebody 
told  me  Colonel  Fisk's  carriage  had  gone  down. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Stokes  in  a  private  coup6  ?— A.  I  think  it  was 
a  pubhc  coupe. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  how  he  was  dressed? — He  had  a  light 
overcoat  on. 

By  a  Juror. — Did  you  ever  hear  Stokes  express  himself 
against  Fisk  ?— A.  No,  sir,  I  don't  think  I  have. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Do  you  know  whether  Mr.  Fisk  was  going 
armed  } — A.  I  don't  know  ;  I  have  never  known  him  to  be 
armed. 

Q.  Did  you  know  that  Mr.  Stokes  was  in  the  habit  of  car- 
rying a  pistol  ? — A.  I  think  he  was. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  see  him  in  the  possession  of  a  pistol.^ — A. 
I  cannot  say  positively. 

Q.  What  was  your  reason  for  saying  that  he  carried  a  pis- 
tol ?— A.  Only  hearing  people  talking  about  it. 

Q.  Has  any  person  ever  communicated  to  you  any  threats 
made  by  Stokes  against  Fisk  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  you  notice  where  Stokes'  coup6 
went? — A.  I  did  not  look  around,  but  just  as  he  passed  I  saw 
him  in  the  coup6 ;  he  was  not  looking  toward  me. 

Q.  Give  the  time  you  saw  Stokes  as  near  as  possible  ?— A. 
It  was  not  half-past  three,  but  it  was  after  three  o'clock. 

Q.  Can  you  tell  where  Mrs.  Mansfield's  house  is  in  that 
street  ? — Yes,  sir. 


S66  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  How  near  the  place  was  that  when  you  saw  Mr.  Stokes  ? 
— A.  About  half  a  block. 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  Stokes? — 
A.  I  have  known  him  five  or  six  years,  I  should  judge. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Stokes'  coupe  going  in  the  direction  of  Mrs. 
Mansfield's  house? — A.  It  was. 

Testimony  of  Benjamin  Allen. 

O.  Where  do  you  live? — A.  No.  12  Fourth  avenue. 

Q.  What  is  your  business? — A.  I  drive  a  stage  for  S.  R. 
McClellan. 

O.  Were  you  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  on  Saturday 
evening? — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  was  there  between  three  and  half- 
past  three. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  unusual  occurrence  having  taken 
place  ? — A.  I  do,  sir. 

Q.  Then  tell  the  jury  all  you  know  about  it? — A..  I  was 
sitting  on  the  porter's  bench  ;  two  shots  were  fired,  and  some 
of  the  porters  ran  up-stairs ;  some  people  said,  "  Get  a  doc- 
tor, there's  a  man  shot  up-stairs ;"  I  heard  a  hallooing,  "  Stop 
that  man ;"  I  went  through  the  reading-room  and  after  the 
man,  who  went  towards  the  telegraph  office ;  I  went  to  the 
man  saying,  "  Here,  they  want  you  ;"  he  turned  right  round  ; 
he  did  not  say  a  word  ;  Mr.  Powers  came  up  when  a  crowd 
gathered  round  and  asked  him  where  the  pistol  was  ;  the 
gentleman  never  said  a  word ;  we  sat.  him  down  on  the  seat 
and  were  holding  him  when  he  said,  pleasantly,  "  Let  me  go 
and  I'll  sit  still ;"  so  we  let  him  go,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  a 
pohceman  took  him  up-stairs  ;  I  did  n't  see  any  more  of  it. 

Q.  Do  you  see  him  here  now  ? — Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Point  him  out.     [The  witness  pointed  to  Mr.  Stokes.] 

Q.  Had  he  anything  in  his  hand  ?— A.  He  had  a  cane  in 
his  hand  ;  he  never  said  a  word  to  anybody. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  3-7 

By  a  Juror.— When  he  passed  out  toward  the  barber-shop 
was  he  running  or  walking?— A.  He  was  walking  as  if  he 
wanted  to  go,  and  didn't  seem  lazy  about  it. 

Q.  Was  the  cane  long  enough  to  be  used  as  a  walking- 
stick?— A.  There  was  no  head  on  it,  but  it  was  long  enough. 

Q.— Did  you  ever  see  this  gentleman  before? — A.  Never 
laid  my  eyes  on  him  before. 

Witness  then  gave  evidence  as  to  the  time  of  the  occur- 
rence, stating  that  he  judged  the  hour  by  the  time  he  was 
going  to  leave,  which  was  about  four  o'clock. 

Testimony  of  Patrick  McGowan.— Patrick  McGowan,  in 
reply  to  the  Coroner,  testified  that  he  resided  at  the  Grand 
Central  Hotel,  where  he  w\as  employed  as  an  engineer.  On 
Saturday  evening  last  I  was  down  in  the  engine-room,  when 
Mr.  Powers  rang,  and  I  came  up ;  I  walked  across  toward 
the  office,  when  I  heard  the  boy  say,  "  You  are  the  man  that 
shot  him  ;"  I  ran  for  the  man  ;  he  was  in  the  reading-room  ; 
Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Powers  brought  him  down  as  far  as  the 
office ;  I  went  for  an  officer,  but  returned,  stating  that  I  could 
not  find  one;  Mr.  Powers  said,  "There's  one  passing;"  I 
went  out  and  told  the  officer  to  come  in,  and  he  did  so  ;  that's 
all  I  know  about  it.  Witness  did  not  hear  the  firing ;  he  did 
not  see  Colonel  Fisk  till  next  day  ;  Hart  was  the  boy  that 
pointed  the  man  out ;  witness  was  about  forty  feet  from  the 
engine-room  at  the  time  the  shots  were  fired  ;  it  was  about 
five  minutes  to  four  o'clock. 

Testimony  of  the  Hackman. — Lawrence  Corr  examined. — I 
live  at  322  East  Thirty-sixth  street. 

Q.  What  is  your  business? — A.  I  am  a  public  hackman. 

Q.  Were  you  driving  your  coup6  last  Saturday? — A.  Ye^ 
sir. 

Q.  Are  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  No,  sir. 


368  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  Do  you  remember  having  a  fare  during  that  day  that 
wanted  to  go  to  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  ? — A.  I  remember 
driving  to  the  Hoffman  House. 

Q.  Did  you  take  Mr.  Stokes  there? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Would  you  know  that  gentleman  if  you  should  see 
him  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.     (Witness  here  identified  the  accused.) 

Q.  How  long  did  he  remain  at  the  Hoffman  House? — A. 
About  ten  minutes. 

Q.  Where  did  you  go  again  ? — A.  Down  Twenty-third 
street,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  avenues. 

Q.  Do  you  know  what  house? — A.  I  do  not  know,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  know  what  number? — A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not,  sir. 

Q.  When  you  went  down  Twenty-third  street,  between 
Eighth  and  Ninth  avenues,  did  you  leave  him  there  ? — A. 
No,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  did  you  wait  for  him  at  any  time  ? — A.  I  did 
not  wait  for  him  any  time ;  I  turned  around,  drove  down 
Seventh  avenue,  Fourteenth  street  into  Fifth  avenue,  to 
Fourth  street  and  to  Broadway,  and  let  the  gentleman  out. 

B)'  a  Juror. — What  time  did  you  let  him  out? — A.  To  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  about  4  o'clock. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  where  he  went  to  ? — A.  He  went  up 
Broadway. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  he  make  any  remark  to  you  that 
he  wanted  to  go  to  the  Grand  Central  ? — A.  I  turned  around 
and  drove  towards  the  Grand  Central. 

By  Mr.  Field. — When  he  told  you  between  Eighth  and 
Ninth  avenues,  did  he  direct  you  to  go  to  some  particular 
number,  or  did  he  only  tell  you  between  Eighth  and  Ninth 
avenues?— A.  I  drove  him  to  some  number  between  Eighth 
and  Ninth  avenues. 

Q.  Did  you  stop  on  the  way  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  369 

Q.  Did  you  go  to  the  house? — A.  I  did,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  pass  the  Erie  building? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  stop  there  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  the  gentleman  did 
not  leave  the  coup6. 

Q.  Did  you  stop  anywhere  before  you  got  to  Fourth  street 
and  Broadway? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  At  the  house  did  any  person  come  out? — A.  No,  sir. 

O.  There  was  no  communication  between  the  house  and 
the  coupe  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Was  there  an}'^  person  in  the  coup6  with  Mr.  Stokes? — 
A.  No,  sir. 

O.  Did  he  seem  excited  when  he  got  into  the  co'up6 — A. 
No,  sir;  not  very  much  excited. 

Q.  What  did  he  say  when  he  got  out  of  the  coupe  ? — A. 
He  said  nothing. 

Q.  Did  he  ask  what  the  price  was  f* — A.  No,  sir;  he  hand- 
ed me  my  fare  and  went  in  an  opposite  direction. 

Q.  You  saw  Mr.  Stokes  going  in  the  direction  opposite  to 
the  way  you  were  going ;  where  was  that  from  ? — A.  The 
south-west  side  of  Broadway. 

Q.  Did  you  notice  whether  he  had  a  cane  ? — A.  He  had. 

Q.  What  time  was  it  when  he  first  engaged  you? — A. 
About  three  o'clock. 

Q.  Where  did  he  engage  you?  —  A.  Opposite  the  City 
Hall ;  I  was  standing  among  the  other  coaches. 

Q.  How  do  you  fix  the  time  that  you  left  him  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Broadway  and  Fourth  street? — It  was  twenty-five 
minutes  past  three  o'clock  when  going  past  the  Hoffman 
House. 

Q.  How  long  did  you  stop  at  Twenty-third  street? — A 
Not  two  minutes. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Colonel  Fisk  or  his  carriage  while  driv- 


370  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

ing  Mr.  Stokes? — A.  No,  sir;  I  knew  Mr.  Fisk,  but  I  don't 
know  his  carriage.  While  driving  towards  Fourth  street 
and  Broadway  there  was  no  carriage  ahead  of  me. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Stokes's  manner  more  than  usually  excited? 
— A.  He  looked  as  if  he  was  a  bit  put  out. 

O.  How  long  have  you  been  in  the  habit  of  driving  Mr. 
Stokes? — A.  I  don't  know;  about  twelve  months. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  driven  him  to  Twenty-third  street  be- 
fore ? — A.  No,  sir. 

O.  Have  you  ever  driven  him  to  the  Grand  Central  be- 
fore?— A.  No,  sir. 

Ml-.  David  Dows,  one  of  the  jurors,  here  inquired  whether 
they  had  assembled  to  try  the  case  or  hear  the  evidence.  If 
they  continued  to  proceed  in  that  manner  they  would  not 
get  through  until  to-morrow  morning.  He  wanted  to  know 
if  they  were  trying  the  case  or  hearing  the  evidence.  The 
Coroner  stated  that  the  jury  had  been  empanelled  to  hear 
the  evidence  and  to  determine  the  manner  in  which  Colonel 
Fisk  came  by  his  death. 

The  counsel  for  the  defense,  at  the  conclusion  of  Corr's 
testimony,  stated  that  he  hoped  that  no  restraint  would  be 
placed  upon  the  prisoner's  counsel  in  eliciting  testimony  for 
this  case,  as  there  was  a  murderous  spirit  abroad  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  that  would  have  to  be  put  down  by  calm  reason 
and  a  desire  on  the  behalf  of  the  administrators  of  the  law  to 
see  justice  done  to  all  persons  in  this  unfortunate  affair.  The 
Coroner  then  adjourned  the  inquest  until  three  o'clock  the 
next  afternoon. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  3/1 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

The  hearing  of  the  evidence  was  resumed  on  the  after- 
noon of  January  9th  in  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions.  The 
room  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  the  interest  in  the  pro- 
ceedings seemed  unabated.  The  same  counsel  engaged  on 
the  previous  day  were  in  attendance.  Owing  to  the  absence 
of  some  of  the  jurors,  the  hearing  was  considerably  delayed, 
and  the  Assistant  District  Attorney  suggested  the  propriety 
of  sending  an  officer  after  the  absentees. 

Patrick  Mart  examined. — O.  What  is  3^our  business? — A. 
Hall  boy,  sir. 

O.  Were  )'ou  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  on  Saturday 
afternoon  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  anything  happen  there  that  evening?  —  A.  Yes, 
sir,  the  death  of  Mr.  Fisk  ;  that's  all  I  know. 

O.  Now,  tell  us  all  you  know  ? — A.  I  know  nothing  at  all 
about  it ;  I  heard  a  hallooing,  and  took  a  man  up-stairs ;  he 
was  asking  somebody  to  come  to  his  aid. 

Q.  Whattime  was  that? — A.  Five  minutes  to  four  o'clock. 

O.  Where  did  you  find  Mr.  Fisk  ? — A.  Standing  right  by 
the  door. 

Q.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  standing  right  up. 

Q.  Did  any  one  send  you  to  him? — A.  No,  sir;  I  heard 
the  noise ;  I  heard  a  man  hallooing  who  wanted  somebody  to 
go  to  him. 

Q.  Did  you  help  him  up? — A.  I  took  him  up  to  the  re- 
ception room  ;  he  walked  right  up  with  me. 


373  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  Did  he  say  anything? — A.  He  said  he  felt  bad;  I 
took  him  up-stairs  and  left  him  in  the  room;  that's  all  I 
know. 

Q.  Did  you  ask  him  what  was  the  matter? — A.  I  didn't 
have  time  ;  he  said  he  had  been  shot  twice. 

Q.  Did  he  say  who  shot  him  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  When  you  took  him  up-stairs  what  did  you  do? — A.  I 
left  him  sitting  in  the  reception-room. 

Q.  Did  you  go  out  immediately  ? — A.  Yes,  sir,  right  away. 

Q.  What  was  youf  business  in  that  part  of  the  hall? — A.  I 
was  going  up-stairs  when  I  heard  the  noise  ;  I  looked  down 
at  the  head  of  the  stairs  and  saw  him  standing  there. 

Q.  You  know  nothing  more  of  this  affair? — A.  Nothing 
more  than  that  I  kept  out  of  the  crowd ;  I  picked  up  a  ball 
and  gave  it  to  Mr.  Crocker. 

Q.  What  kind  of  a  ball?— A.  A  cartridge  ball. 

Q.  Do  you  think  you  could  recognize  that  ball? — A.  Yes, 
sir;  I  guess  I  could. 

Q.  Is  that  like  the  ball  (produced)  ? — A.  Yes— no — no,  sir; 
it  don't  seem  to  be  it. 

Q.  You  are  not  positive  that  that  is  the  ball  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  After  you  picked  up  the  ball,  what  did  you  do  with  it? 
— A.  I  handed  it  to  Mr.  Crocker ;  I  never  noticed  the  ball 
after  I  picked  it  up. 

Q.  Did  you  tell  him  where  you  found  it? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Colonel  Fisk  from  the  time  you  left  him 
in  the  reception-room  up  to  the  time  of  his  death? — A.  I 
never  saw  him  since. 

Q.  Did  you  know  Colonel  Fisk? — A.  Yes;  it  was  easy  to 
know  him  ;  I  have  seen  him  several  times. 

Q.  Was  he  a  visitor  at  the  hotel?— A.  Yes,  sir;  I  saw  him 
out  with  the  regiment. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  373 

Q.  Are  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Stokes?  No,  sir ;  I  never 
saw  the  man  in  all  my  life. 

Q.  And  you  would  not  know  him  if  you  saw  him  ? — A. 
No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Field. — What  stairs  were  you  coming  up  at  the 
time? — A.  I  came  up  from  the  office  in  the  middle  stairway  ; 
I  was  passing  by  the  hall  when  I  heard  the  hallooing. 

Q.  Where  had  you  been  three  or  four  minutes  preceding 
the  time  you  started  to  go  up? — A.  I  came  right  up;  I  was 
not  a  minute. 

Q.  But  where  had  you  been  preceding  the  time  you  went 
up? — A.  I  was  in  the  office;  I  had  just  come  from  deliver- 
ing a  message,  and  that's  all  I  know. 

Q.  Did  you  examine  the  ball  immediately  ? — A.  No,  sir ; 
I  hadn't  time,  there  was  so  much  excitement. 

Q.  What  makes  you  think  it  was  the  ball? — A.  I  don't 
know. 

Q.  Then  you  don't  know  whether  it  was  the  ball  or  not  ? — 
A.  Yes,  exactly. 

Q.  What  was  your  reason  for  saying  you  didn't  think  it 
was  the  ball? — A.  Because  I  didn't  take  any  notice  of  it. 

Q.  You  mean  to  say  you  know  nothing  about  it  ? — A.  I 
don't  know  anything  about  it. 

Q.  When  did  you  see  Mr.  Fisk  previous  to  Saturday  last? 
— A.  I  haven't  seen  him  for  some  time. 

Q.  Cannot  you  remember  when  you  saw  him  before  last 
Saturday? — A.  I  saw  him  the  night  of  the  reception  at  the 
Grand  Central  Hotel,  and  not  since. 

Q.  How  long  ago  is  that  ? — A.  Twenty-fifth  of  last  March. 

Q.  Who  did  you  see  ?  Who  was  on  the  stairway 
when  Mr.  Fisk  called  for  assistance  ? — A.  No  one  that  1 
knew  of. 


374  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Q.  Describe  the  reception-room. — A.  No.  217,  a  little  way 
up  the  stairway. 

Q.  Did  you  see  any  pistol  in  it  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  I  saw  noth 
ing  at  all  there. 

Q.  Did  you  hear  that  one  had  been  found  there  ? — A.  No, 
sir  ;  I  heard  nothing  about  it. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Did  you  see  a  pistol  in  the  first  parlor  ?— 
A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Clews. — Who  was  in  the  reception-room  when  you 
brought  Mr.  Fisk  there? — A.  There  was  a  crowd  around 
there. 

Q.  Where  did  they  come  from  ? — A.  They  came  out  of 
the  hall. 

Q.  Were  they  boarders  ? — A.  I  cannot  tell  you  ;  I  cannot 
say  anything  about  it ;  visitors,  I  suppose. 

Q.  Was  there  more  than  one  ? — A.  Well,  I  don't  know  ; 
there  was  a  crowd  there. 

Q.  Were  there  six  persons? — A.  Of  course,  there  was; 
the  excitement  caused  more  than  that  many  to  be  there. 

Q.  Was  there  a  dozen  persons  there? — A.  I  don't  know; 
I  believe  there  was  excitement  enough  to  cause  that  many 
to  be  there. 

By  Mr.  Clews. — Would  you  recognize  any  one  that  was 
there  ? — A.  I  knew  Mr.  Haskins  ;  he  spoke  to  me,  and  sent 
me  to  the  hall  to  get  a  key. 

Q.  Who  is  Mr.  Haskins?— A.  Book-keeper  in  the  house. 

Q.  Did  you  leave  Mr.  Fisk  with  Mr.  Haskins  ?— A.  No, 

i 

sir. 

Q.  Who  then  ?— A.  I  cannot  tell  you  ;  I  left  him  on  the  sofa. 

Q.  You  could  not  have  left  him  alone?— A.  There  was  a 
crowd  around  him  ;  he  didn't  talk  to  me ;  I  tell  you  they 
were  all  strangers  to  me. 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  375 

By  the  Coroner.— Was  there  a  great  deal  of  excitement  in 
the  hotel  at  the  time  ?— A.  Not  at  the  time. 

Q.  Well,  how  long  afterwards  ?— A.  About  half  an  hour. 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  employed  in  the  hotel  ?— A. 
Since  it  opened. 

Q.  Since  Octoher?— A.  It  was  opened  in  August,  I  guess. 

By  Mr.  Clews.— Did  Mr.  Fisk  make  any  remark  in  the  re- 
ception-room ? — A.  He  made  the  remark  that  he  was  shot. 

Q.  Did  he  say  so  to  you? — A.  No,  sir;  he  mentioned  no- 
body's name. 

Q.  What  did  he  say  to  you,  or  did  he  address  his  remark 
to  any  one  present? — A.  Mr.  Haskins  was  by. 

Q.  Did  anybody  speak  to  him  ?— A.  The  crowd  asked 
him  what  the  matter  was. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  he  mention  where  he  was  shot? — A. 
He  said  he  had  been  shot  twice,  and  pointed  to  the  wounds. 
(Witness  pointed  to  his  abdomen.) 

By  Mr.  Clews.— That's  all  he  said  ?— A.  I  didn't  hear  him 
say  anything  more. 

By  Mr.  Clews.— Did  anybody  ask  Mr.  Fisk  who  had  shot 
him  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  anybody  speak  to  him  ? — A.  I  told 
you  twice  thc}^  did. 

Q.  What  did  they  say? — A.  He  said  he  had  been  shot 
twice,  and  pointed  to  the  places. 

Q.  Are  you  positive  he  mentioned  no  names? — A.  No, 
sir;  he  mentioned  no  name  while  I  was  there. 

By  Mr.  Clews. — Where  did  you  go  after  that? — A.  I  went 
to  attend  to  my  business. 

Q.  You  did  not  see  Mr.  Stokes  after  that  ? — A.  Never  saw 
the  man  in  all  my  life,  and  wouldn't  know  him  if  I  saw  him. 
By  the  Coroner. — You  say  you  picked  up  the  ball  on  the 


3/6  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

stairs?— A.  I  picked  up  the  ball  and  walked  away  with  it. 
(Witness  here  examined  the  ball.) 

O.  You  cannot  describe  the  ball  you  picked  up  ?— A.  I 
cannot. 

Q.  Was  it  a  leaden  bullet  ?— A.  It  looked  very  much  like 
this  ball  (examining  it),  but  I  cannot  tell. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner  insisted  that  the  witness  should 
be  more  closely  interrogated  as  to  the  ball. 

By  the  Coroner.— What  is  the  reason  you  cannot  describe 
the  ball  you  picked  up  ? — A.  I  did  not  notice  it  when  I  pick- 
ed it  up  ;  I  walked  up-stairs  with  it  and  handed  it  to  Mr. 
Crocker. 

Q.  Did  you  look  at  it  ? — A.  No  more  than  a  look. 

Q.  From  the  time  you  picked  it  up  until  you  handed  it  to 
Mr.   Crocker,  did  you  look  at  it  ?— A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Then  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  describe  the  ball  ? — A. 
It  is. 

By  Mr.  Field.— Was  it  a  round  ball?— A.  I  tell  you  I  can't 
tell  you  ;  I  can't  describe  it. 

Q.  Did  you  carry  it  in  your  hand  ?— A.  Yes  ;  I  carried  it 
in  my  hand  and  handed  it  to  Mr.  Crocker  on  the  stairs. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  it  was  lead  or  iron  ?— A.  I  know 
it  was  lead  ;  they  are  all  made  of  lead,  I  guess.     (Laughter.) 

By  the  Coroner.— State  precisely  where  you  picked  up 
the  ball.— A.  Right  opposite  the  second  door. 

Q.  On  the  stairs  ?— A.  At  the  foot  of  the  first  stair. 

Q.  You  have  looked  at  the  ball  ?— A.  I  have  not,  sir. 

Q.  You  havejust  looked  at  here?— A.  Oh,  just  now;  but 
I  can't  tell ;  I  tell  you  I  can't  tell  you  anything  about  it. 

By  Mr.  Field,— Was  there  any  blood  on  the  ball  when  you 
picked  it  up?— A.  I  don't  know. 

Q.  Had  you  any  blood  on  your  hand?— A.  No. 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  37^ 

Q.  Was  there  any  blood  on  the  stairs  ? — A.  None  at  all,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  see  any  on  the  carpet? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  sec  any  blood  on  Mr.  Fisk's  person  ? — A.  I 
*saw  none  on  any  part  of  him  at  all ;  I  often  saw  blood,  but  I 
didn't  see  any  there. 

By  the  Coroner. — Who  was  the  first  person  you  recog- 
nized after  Mr.  Fisk  said  he  had  been  shot  twice? — A.  I  saw 
nobody  around  that  I  could  recognize. 

Q.  Who  was  the  last  person  you  remember  after  you 
heard  Mr.  Fisk  was  shot  ? — A.  I  saw  Mr.  Powers. 

Q.  Now  who  was  the  last  person  you  remember  before 
you  heard  the  shot  ? — A.  I  never  heard  the  shooting  ;  I  told 
you  I  heard  a  noise,  a  kind  of  hallooing. 

O.  You  didn't  hear  any  shooting  ? — A.  I  didn't  hear  any 
shooting,  sir. 

Q.  Who  was  the  last  person  you  remember  seeing  before 
you  heard  the  call  ? — A.  I  cannot  tell ;  you  could  not  tell  in 
a  hotel  where  there  are  so  many  people  running  up  and  down 
stairs. 

Q.  Are  you  well  acquainted  with  the  attach6s  working  in 
the  hotel  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  seeing  them  there  ? — A.  None  of 
them  that  I  can  tell. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Were  you  going  up-stairs  in  answer  to  a 
bell  ? — A.  No,  sir  ;  I  had  an  order. 

Q.  Was  that  by  a  guest  in  the  house  ? — A.  Yes,  up  in  his 
room  ;  first  part  of  the  fourth  floor. 

Q.  What  were  you  doing  there? — A.  I  was  going  there 
on  business. 

Q.  What  business  ? — A.  Waiting  on  a  guest  in  the  house. 

Q.  You  went  up  in  answer  to  an  order  from  some  one  ? — 
A.  Yes. 


378  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

O.  Whose  order  was  it  ? — A.  I  don't  know  the  gentleman  ; 
he  was  a  stranger  to  me. 

Q.  Where  was  that  whence  the  order  came? — A.  Well, 
the  number  is  474,  if  you  want  to  find  him  out. 

O.  Where  were  you  when  you  received  the  order  to  go 
up-stairs? — A.  I  was  in  the  room  ;  I  went  out,  and  when  I 
returned  I  got  the  order. 

Q.  Then  it  was  just  when  you  returned  that  you  heard 
the  noise  ? — A.  I  heard  the  call  for  assistance  and  looked  up 
the  stairs. 

Q.  What  is  the  distance  to  the  head  of  the  stairs  ? — A.  I 
never  have  measured  it ;  I  cannot  tell  what  it  is. 

Q.  Is  it  ten  or  fifty  feet  ? — A.  Well,  it  is  a  large  house, 
and  you  have  to  round  it.     (Laughter). 

The  Coroner. — Officer,  preserve  order.  This  is  no  place 
for  levity,  and  I  hope  the  gentlemen  will  not  indulge  in  any. 

By  the  Coroner. — Do  you  know  how  many  steps  there 
are  ? — A.  I  never  measured  it. 

O.  You  have  gone  up  and  down  a  good  many  times? — A. 
Yes  ;  a  good  many  times. 

Q.  How  long  would  it  take  you  to  go  up  ? — A.  Well,  if  I 
liked  to  loaf  it  would  take  a  good  while. 

Q.  Would  it  take  you  five  minutes  ? — A.  Oh,  no ;  one 
flight  of  stairs  would  take  me  about  a  minute,  I  guess. 

By  Mr.  Clews. — Have  you  talked  with  any  one  about  this 
occurrence  ? — A.  No  ;  I  didn't  talk  to  anybody. 

Q.  Nobody  came  to  see  you  about  it  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Have  you  ever  talked  about  it? — A.  Yes, 
I  have,  but  to  nobody  except  the  clerks  in  the  office. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  you  pick  up  the  ball  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  ?— A.  Yes,  at  the  foot  of  the  middle  stairs  ;  I  told 
you  that  four  or  five  times. 


STOKES  LYING   IN  WAIT  FOR   COL.  FISK. 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  381 

Q.  To  whom  did  you  give  the  ball  ? — A.  To  Mr.  Crocker 
at  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

Q.  How  did  you  know  it  was  a  ball? — A.  It  looked  like  a 
ball  when  I  picked  it  up. 

Q.  You  say  you  cannot  tell  whether  it  was  round  or  not? 
— A.  I  cannot  tell ;  I  never  noticed  the  ball. 

Q.  Did  you  think  it  was  square? — A.  I  cannot  tell  you. 

Mr.  Opdyke,  one  of  the  jurors,  here  suggested  that  the 
j'ury  had  obtained  enough  information  from  the  witness. 

By  a  Juror. — I  just  wish  to  ask  one  question — Who  is  Mr. 
Crocker  ? — A.  A  clerk  in  the  house. 

As  the  witness  was  leaving  the  stand  the  Coroner  ordered 
an  officer  to  detain  him  in  court. 

Captain  Byrne  was  next  sworn,  and  said : — I  am  attached 
to  the  Fifteenth  Precinct  Police  as  Captain  ;  I  first  heard  of 
the  shooting  about  ten  minutes  after  four  o'clock  ;  I  was  go- 
ing up  the  stoop  of  the  station-house ;  I  was  told  by  one  of 
my  sergeants ;  I  went  to  the  Grand  Central  Hotel,  and  went 
to  the  room  where  Colonel  Fisk  was  lying  ;  it  is  in  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  building ;  I  was  given  a  ball  at  the 
Grand  Central  Hotel.  (Ball  handed  to  witness.)  This  is 
the  same  ball  given  to  me  by  one  of  the  attaches  of  the 
hotel  at  the  foot  of  the  private  stairs  ;  Mr.  Crocker  gave  it 
to  me  ;  he  told  me  a  man  named  Hart  found  it ;  there  was  a 
pistol  placed  in  my  possession  by  Mr.  Crocker ;  he  told  me 
that  it  was  given  to  him  by  one  of  the  ladies  ;  I  went  to  see 
the  lady,  and  she  said  she  found  it  lying  on  the  sofa,  on  one 
corner  of  it;  it  was  in  the  parlor,  on  the  Broadway  side;  I 
searched  the  barber  shop,  the  reading-room  and  the  writing- 
room  ;  Mr.  Crocker  was  also  searching  for  the  pistol ;  I  ar- 
rested Mr.  Stokes  in  the  reading-room,  about  half  an  hour 
after  Mr.  Crocker  told  me  that  the  pistol  had  been  found. 

22  '. 


3S2  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

By  Mr.  Field. — The  sofa  was  near  to  the  door  ,  the  entrance 
to  this  parlor  was  on  a  line  to  the  main  hall. 

By  the  Coroner. — The  pistol  produced  is  the  same ;  two 
balls  were  discharged  out  of  it ;  it  is  now  loaded. 

The  witness  here  held  the  pistol  in  his  hand,  with  barrel 
pointing-  toward  the  ceiling.  He  turned  it  about  in  his  hand 
slightly  careless.  While  doing  so  the  Coroner  said  so  him, 
"  Will  you  discharge  one  of  those  barrels  (Sensation  in 
Court) — and  let  us  see  the  ball  ?  " 

Mr.  McKeon.— I  object  to  that,  Mr.  Coroner.  It  was  my 
practice  to  do  differently  in  such  cases.  Let  the  pistol,  with 
the  balls,  as  they  are  now,  be  enclosed  in  paper  and  your  seal 
affixed  to  it,  and  let  it  be  handed  over  to  the  District  Attorney. 

The  Coroner. — That  course  shall  be  pursued,  sir. 

Counsel  for  the  Prisoner. — That  had  better  be  done,  sir, 
for  we  have  a  Grand  Jury  now  that  will  indict  without 
evidence. 

Witness  resumed. — I  was  not  present  when  Mr.  Stokes  was 
arrested  ;  Officer  McKeddon  arrested  him. 

By  Mr.  Clews. — Mr.  Crocker  examined  the  pistol ;  he  gave 
me  all  the  information  he  could,  and  manifested  no  more 
desire  to  do  this  than  a  person  in  such  circumstances  would 
manifest ;  any  person  passing  the  entrance  of  the  parlor  and 
going  to  the  main  stair-way  could  readily  fling  anything  out 
of  his  hand  into  the  parlor ;  I  have  not  heard  of  any  reports 
of  a  pistol  being  found  in  217,  where  Mr.  Fisk  was  taken. 

By  Mr.  Field. — Mr.  Crocker  did  not  take  any  more  inter- 
est in  the  matter  than  a  person  in  his  position  under  the  cir- 
cumstances would  be  expected  to  show. 

Mr.  McKeon  asked  Captain  Byrne  to  send  to  the  prisoner 
a  cane,  which  he  (McKeon)  thought  might  have  been  left  at 
the  station-house. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  383 

Dr.  Thomas  II.  Triplcr  testified  : — I  reside  at  the  Grand 
Central  Hotel ;  I  saw  Colonel  Fisk  last  Saturday  afternoon  ; 
as  near  as  I  remember,  it  was  twenty  minutes  after  iour 
o'clock;  I  saw  him  in  the  room  214;  it  is  located  to  the 
north  and  east  of  the  ladies'  entrance  fronting  on  Broadway  ; 
Mr.  Fisk  looked  very  pale  and  was  agitated ;  I  went  there  to 
offer  professional  aid  ;  Colonel  Fisk  told  me  he  was  shot ;  I 
heard  him  say  later  that  it  was  Mr.  Stokes  who  shot  him  ; 
Colonel  Fisk  was  standing  with  his  clothes  on  in  the  parlor 
when  I  saw  him  first;  I  remained  with  him  until  half-past 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  then  left  for  a  few  moments ; 
I  was  present  when  he  died,  at  five  minutes  to  eleven  on 
Sunday  morning. 

By  Mr.  Field. — I  assisted  Mr.  Fisk  to  undress ;  I  did  ex- 
amine his  clothing ;  there  was  no  weapon  found  upon  him  ; 
there  were  rumors  that  Mr.  Fisk  did  carry  a  weapon — that 
he  was  armed  at  the  time  the  accident  occurred ;  I  think  I 
heard  it  in  the  hotel ;  if  there  had  been  a  pistol  around  his 
waist  I  could  not  have  failed  to  see  it. 

Q.  Was  the  wound  in  the  abdomen  a  fatal  one,  and,  under 
all  circumstances,  must  ISlr.  Fisk  have  died  from  the  effects 
thereof? — A.  In  my  opinion  it  was. 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  probing  of  the  wound  had  an}-- 
thing  to  do  in  either  causing  or  accelerating  death  ? — A.  I 
do  not. 

Q.  What  do  you  think  caused  death  ? — A.  The  shock, 
causing  peritonitis  and  the  wounding  of  the  intestines ; 
there  were  four  holes  in  the  intestines,  and  I  think  this  ac- 
celerated the  death. 

By  the  Coroner. — Did  you  probe  Colonel  Fisk's  wound  ? — 
A.  I  did,  sir. 

By    Mr.   Field. — Was   Mr.  Fisk   perfectly  sensible   when 


384  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

you  were  probing  the  wound  ? — A.  Yes  ;  it  was  necessary  to 
give  him  chloroform,  but  when  Dr.  James  Wood  probed 
the  wound  he  showed  that  he  was  sensible  of  pain  ;  it  would 
not  be  excessively  painful. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Fisk  sensible  at  the  time  of  death? — A.  No, 
sir. 

O.  How  long  had  he  been  sensible  ? — A.  Until  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Q.  Then  it  is  your  opinion  that  after  Colonel  Fisk 
received  the  wound  in  the  abdomen,  under  no  circum- 
stances could  he  possibly  recover? — A.  That  is  my  opin- 
ion, sir;  I  think  he  died  of  the  wound,  and  nothing 
else.  '» 

Q.  Don't  you  consider  that  the  length  of  time  Mr.  Fisk 
survived  showed  great  vitality? — A.  I  think  it  did  show 
great  vitality. 

Q.  Would  an  ordinary  person  have  survived  so  long  ? — 
A.  It  is  impossible  to  say. 

Q.  If  he  had  only  received  the  wound  in  the  arm,  would 
he  have  recovered  from  that  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Field. — If  you  had  been  successful  in  extracting 
the  ball,  would  it  have  made  any  difference  as  to  the  result? 
— A.  None  whatever,  in  my  opinion. 

By  the  Coroner. — Have  you  seen  any  pistol  that  was  said 
to  be  found  on  Colonel  Fisk  ?— A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  Mr.  Fisk  complain  that  the  probing  of  the  wound 
had  hurt  him  ?— A.  He  complained  a  little  of  the  wound  in 
his  arm — more  than  of  the  wound  in  the  abdomen. 

Q.  At  what  time  did  the  physicians  regard  the  case  as  ab- 
solutely hopeless  ?— A.  At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Counsel  for  the  defence  suggested  that  witness  should 
give  a  "  square  "  answer  as  to  the  probing.     Witness  said 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  385 

that  when  the  wounds  were  probed  Colonel  f^'isk  winced  a 
little. 

Q.  He  did  not  tell  you  that  he  was  shot  by  Mr.  Stokes?— 
A.  He  did  not  relate  any  of  the  circumstances. 

Coroner  Young  here  stated  that  he  would  rest  the  evi  1- 
ence  at  this  point,  as  far  as  the  witnesses  were  concerned. 
He  wished  to  make  a  statement,  however,  which  was,  that 
between  six  and  seven  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening  he  was 
sent  for  to  take  the  dying  statement  of  Colonel  Fisk.  He 
was  not  quite  certain  as  to  the  time,  but  he  remembered 
stopping  at  the  Fifteenth  Precinct  Station-house  about  that 
time.  When  he  reached  the  room  of  Colonel  Fisk  he  was 
asked  to  take  the  ante-mortem  statement  of  the  Colonel, 
and  he  proposed  now  to  read  it  to  the  jury, 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner  objected  to  this  being  done,  and, 
appealing  to  District-Attorney  Sullivan,  said  that  gentleman 
knew  that  it  was  not  right  that  it  should  be  read. 

District-Attorney  Sullivan  said  that,  on  the  contrary,  he 
knew  that  the  Coroner  was  doing  perfectly  right,  and  had 
advised  him  to  read  it. 

The  Coroner  said  he  had  had  a  number  of  cases  of  homi- 
cide since  he  had  been  Coroner,  and  he  had  never  heard  an 
objection  before  to  the  reading  of  ante-mortem  statements. 

The  ante-mortem  statement  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
were  then  read  by  Dr.  Marsh. 

Dr.  ISIarsh  read  the  post-mortem.  In  reply  to  questions 
put  by  the  Coroner  and  jury,  Dr.  Marsh  confirmed  the  pre- 
vious medical  testimony  as  to  the  certainty  of  death  and  the 
probing  of  the  wound. 

Counsel  for  the  defence  protested  at  some  length  against 
the  case  being  submitted  to  the  jury  without  evidence  as  to 
the  stripping  of  the  body  and  the  probing  of  the  wounds. 


386  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

The  Coronll-  said  he  had  fully  decided  to  close  the  case 
there,  and  believed  that  he  had  fully  performed  his  duty, 
which  was  not  to  try  the  case,  but  to  find  how  Colonel  Fisk 
came  by  his  death. 

The  Coroner  then  proceeded  to  address  the  jury.     He 

said  : 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, — I  feel  that  it  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  refer  you  to  the  evidence  that  has  been  offered. 
You  have  listened  attentively,  and  the  positions  you  occupy 
in  society,  your  intelligence,  your  reputation  as  good  citi- 
zens, preclude  the  necessity  of  my  advising  you  upon  any 
point.  All  that  I  ask  of  you  is  to  render  a  verdict  in  accord- 
ance with  the  testimony.  That  is  all.  I  have  no  particular 
point  to  address  you  upon ;  but  I  would  ask  you  only  to 
commence  with  first  witnesses  and  review  the  line  of  testi- 
mony to  the  close  of  the  examination,  to  the  end  of  the  post- 
mortem. I  do  not  know  that  I  should*say  one  more  word 
to  you.  Gentlemen,  I  assure  you  that  in  the  examination 
of  the  witnesses  it  has  not  been  my  desire  to  ask  one  im- 
proper question.  I  have  not  been  animated  with  a  prejudice 
against  any  man.  I  have  no  personal  feehng.  I  have  en- 
deavored to  discharge  my  duty,  as  I  have  already  said  to 
the  counsel,  conscientiously,  fearlessly,  and  as  I  shall  always 
continue  to  discharge  it.  With  these  few  remarl^s,  I  leave 
the  case  in  your  hands.  You  will  please  retire  and  agree 
upon  a  verdict,  if  you  can  do  so." 

The  Counsel  for  the  prisoner.— Against  that  we  protest 
and  except. 

Coroner.— With  all  due  deference  to  the  gentleman  I  de- 
cline to  take  any  protest. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner.— Well,  we  can  make  you  here- 
after. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  38/ 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

At  a  quarter  to  five  o'clock  the  jury  retired  to  deliberate 
upon  the  verdict.  It  was  thought  that  their  absence  would 
be  brief,  having  merely  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  death. 
Contrary  to  general  expectation,  however,  they  remained  out 
nearly  three  hours,  and,  meanwhile,  the  crowded  court  be- 
came gradually  thinned. 

At  twenty  minutes  to  eight  o'clock,  the  jury  returned  into 
court  and  resumed  their  seats. 

The  Coroner  asked  whether  the  jury  had  agreed  to  their 
verdict. 

Mr.  Opdyke  replied  in  the  affirmative. 

The  Coroner. — What  do  you  find,  gentlemen? 

Mr.  Opdyke.— Shall  I  read  it  ? 

The  Coroner. — If  3^ou  please. 

THE   VERDICT. 

Mr.  Opdyke  then  read  the  following  verdict : 
*'  The  jury  find,  from  the  testimony  submitted  on  this  in- 
quest, tha:  the  deceased,  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  came  to  his  death 
at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the 
7th  day  of  January,  1872,  at  or  about  ten  minutes  before 
eleven  o'clock,  a.  m.,  in  consequence  of  a  wound  or  wounds 
inflicted  by  a  ball  or  balls  from  a  pistol  in  the  hands  of  Edward 
S.  Stokes,  discharged  by  him  in  a  deliberate  manner  at  the 
person  of  said  Fisk,  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel  aforesaid,  on 
the  sixth  day  of  January,  1872,  at  or  about  four  o'clock,  r.  M. 


3S8  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"Jesse  Hoyt,  Henry  Clews,  John  J.  Gorman,  William  H. 
Locke,  Alex.  McKenzie,  George  Opdyke,  A.  V.  Stout,  David 
Dows,  M.  B.  Field,  Lowell  Lincoln,  James  R.  Edwards,  Wil- 
liam M.  Bliss. 

"New  York,  January  9,  1S72." 

The  announcement  of  the  verdict  created  very  little  sensa- 
tion in  court ;  nor  was  any  change  noticed  in  the  demeanor 
of  the  accused  from  that  which  he  had  previously  borne  dur- 
ing the  trial. 

The  Coroner  then  requested  Mr.  Stokes  to  step  up  to  the 
witness  stand.  Accompanied  by  his  counsel,  the  accused  did 
as  requested.  The  Coroner  continued :  "  Mr.  Stokes,  the 
jur}^  having  rendered  their  verdict,  which  you  have  heard, 
it  now  becomes  my  dut}-  to  ask  you  certain  questions.  You 
are  at  liberty  to  answer  them  or  not,  as  3'ou  please." 

Q.  What  is  your  name  ? — A.  Edward  S.  Stokes. 

Q.  How  old  are  you,  Mr.  Stokes  ? — A.  I  am  thirty  years 
of  age. 

Q.  Where  were  you  born  ? — A.  I  was  born  in  Philadelphia. 

Q.  Where  do  you  reside? — A.  I  reside  at  the  Hoffman 
House,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Q.  Have  you  anything  to  say — and  if  so,  what — relative  to 
the  charge  preferred  against  you  ? 

Counsel  (answering  for  the  prisoner). — By  the  advice  of 
my  counsel,  I  decline  to  answer  any  further  questions  at  this 
time.  I  am  in  their  hands,  as  my  counsel,  and  am  governed 
by  their  advice. 

The  prisoner  then  signed  his  name  to  the  above  in  a  bold 
hand,  without  any  symptoms  of  nervousness. 

The  Coroner. — Mr.  Stokes,  the  jury  having  rendered  a 
verdict  that  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  came  to  his  death  by  a  pistol- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  389 

shot  wound  at  your  hands,  I  shall  commit  you  to  the  Tombs 
to  await  the  action  of  the  Grand  Jury. 

The  Coroner  then  turned  to  the  jury  present,  and,  having 
tendered  his  thanks  for  their  attendance,  discharged  them. 

Counsel  for  the  prisoner,  in  a  lengthened  address,  drew  the 
attention  of  the  Coroner  to  the  statutes  relative  to  the  return 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Court.  He  dilated  upon  the  crime 
that  had  been  committed,  and  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the 
public  mind  was  unduly  excited.  In  order  to  secure  justice 
to  the  prisoner,  he  contended  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
Coroner  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  statute,  which  set 
forth  that  the  testimony  of  the  Coroner's  jury  should  be 
reduced  to  writing  by  the  Coroner,  and  should  be  returned 
to  the  next  Criminal  Court  that  should  be  held  in  the  county 
within  thirty  days.  Counsel  cited  the  case  of  McFarland  to 
show  that  had  he  been  tried  within  thirty  days  after  the 
coroner's  verdict,  he  must  have  been  convicted.  But  when 
sober  second  thought  came  upon  the  public  mind,  always 
sure  to  follow  in  a  case  of  that  kind,  he  was  not  only  acquit- 
ted by  the  public  so  incensed  against  him,  but  almost  received 
the  thanks  of  the  jury  for  the  act  originally  committed.  He 
submitted  that  the  prisoner  was  entitled  to  what  was  known 
in  criminal  proceedings  as  a  continuance,  owing  to  the  pre- 
judice now  existing  in  the  public  mind.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, he  trusted  the  Coroner  would  not  return  the  pro- 
ceedings mitil  the  time  specified  by  law,  and  until  such  time 
as  the  excitement  incident  to  the  case  had  died  away. 

Mr.  McKeon  followed  on  the  same  side,  contending  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  Coroner  to  withhold  the  proceedings 
until  the  full  extent  of  time  required  by  law. 

Assistant  District- Attorney  Sullivan  intimated  that  the 
usual  practice  was,  that  where  recognizances  were  taken  by 


390  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

a  committing  magistrate  and  called  for  an  appearance  at  the 
next  term,  it  meant  the  term  then  pending.  It  was  the  well- 
settled  practice  to  regard  as  the  next  term  any  part  of  the 
then  current  or  unexpired  term. 

After  some  further  discussion,  'the  counsel  for  the  prisoner 
read  the  words  of  the  statute  : 

"  The  testimony  of  witnesses  examined  before  a  coroner's 
jury  shall  be  reduced  to  writing  by  the  coroner,  and  shall  be 
returned  by  him,  together  with  inquisition  of  the  jury  and  all 
recognizances  and  examinations  taken  by  such  coroner,  to 
the  next  criminal  court  of  record  that  shall  be  held  in  the 
county." 

Counsel  then  commented  on  the  fact  that  the  jury  had  not 
rendered  a  verdict  that  showed  the  prisoner  had  committed 
wilful  murder,  in  the  legal  acceptation  of  the  term,  and  that, 
although  it  was  set  forth  that  the  shooting  had  been  done 
deliberately,  many  a  highwayman  had  been  shot  with  delib- 
eration. He  also  adverted  to  the  fact  that  two  of  the  wit- 
nesses produced  on  the  day  preceding  had  contradicted 
themseives.  The  second  one,  he  contended,  had  committed 
perjury,  while  the  third  witness  wiped  out  the  testimony  of 
both. 

The  Coroner,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  counsel's  observa- 
tions, stated  that  he  had  listened  attentively  to  the  sugges- 
tions which  had  been  made,  and  would  give  them  a  careful 
consideration. 

The  accused  was  then  remox'cd  to  his  cell,  and  the  inquest 
was  brought  to  a  close. 

On  the  same  day  the  body  lay  at  Colonel  Fisk's  residence 
in  Twenty-third  street,  and  was  viewed  by  the  friends.  It 
was  then  taken  in  a  rosewood  casket  to  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  where  it  was  placed  on  a  splendid  catafalque.    Thou 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  391 

sands  of  people,  numbers  of  whom  were  ladies,  came  in  to 
look  for  the  last  time  upon  the  face  of  the  man  who  had  for 
so  long  a  time  been  the  talk  of  the  wonder-loving  world. 

The  scenes  at  the  side  of  the  corpse  were  very  affecting. 
Poor  women  whom  Fisk  had  aided,  bent  over  and  kissed  the 
cold  lips,  and  men  stood  by  with  tears  of  genuine  sorrow  in 
their  eyes.  After  the  reading  of  the  funeral  service  by  Chap- 
lain Flagg,  of  the  Ninth,  Mrs.  Fisk  and  Mrs.  Hooker  entered 
the  room  and  kissed  the  dead  husband  and  brother.  Then 
the  casket  was  closed. 

At  ten  the  next  moaning  the  final  preparations  for  the  mili- 
tary funeral  were  made,  and  at  noon  the  column  was  set  in 
motion  to  the  sound  of  muffled  drums.  Then  the  band 
played  a  solemn  dirge,  and  the  sad  procession  marched 
through  the  crowded  streets  to  the  New  York  and  New 
Haven  depot,  where  the  casket  was  placed  in  the  special 
funeral  car,  and  the  train  started. 

The  little  town  of  Brattleboro'  was  reached  at  half-past  12 
at  night.  At  every  station  along  the  route  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  people  had  collected  to  view  the  funeral  train, 
with  its  locomotive  and  cars  draped  in 'the  deepest  mourn- 
ing. At  Brattleboro'  the  whole  population  were  at  the  sta- 
tion, waiting  to  receive  the  remains  of  their  deceased  fellow- 
citizen  and  friend. 

All  that  was  mortal  of  Colonel  Fisk  was  given  back  to 
earth  on  the  next  day,  after  impressive  funeral  services,  both 
at  the  church  and  at  the  grave  in  the  little  cemetery.  The 
last  prayer  was  offered  up,  the  last  military  honors  were 
paid,  the  grave  was  closed,  and  the  sorrowing  multitude 
turned  away. 

The  funeral  sermon  preached  in  the  church  by  Chaplain 
Flagg  was  listened  to  with  deep  attention.      The  speaker 


392  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

was  often  interrupted  by  the  sobs  of  his  audience,  and  was 
at  times  himself  ahnost  too  much  moved  to  proceed.  He 
said : 

"  Beloved  :  The  conventional  services  of  the  Church  have 
been  performed  over  the  remains  of  our  dead  friend.  In 
spite  of  a  recent  indisposition,  I  have  traveled  into  these  hr- 
away  mountains  to  attempt  to  do  justice  to  the  Commander 
of  the  regiment  of  which  I  have  the  honor  of  being  Chaplain. 
I  did  not  travel  so  far  either  to  give  vent  to  the  promptings 
of  malice  or  pronounce  a  fulsome  panegyric,  but  simply  as 
an  officer  of  the  regiment  commanded  by  him  who  raised  it 
from  a  comparatively  insignificant  position  to  a  peerage  with 
the  best  and  most  efficient  militia  organization  in  the  United 
States.  I  have  known  him  only  a  short  time,  but  in  that 
short  time  I  found  him  to  be  my  friend,  and  have  been  led 
hither  because  I  found  in  him  that  which  attracts  us  to  a 
man  as  goodness  and  truth  always  attract  us.  He  who  lies 
before  you  was  no  common  man.  He  was  not  like  the  mass. 
As  to  his  faults,  I  will  not  speak  of  them.  A  censorious 
world  will  do  them  ample  justice.  He  had  enough  denunci- 
ations from  those  who  never  looked  into  his  merits.  It  is 
but  natural  that  a  man  of  his  strong  characteristics  should 
have  had  strong  faults  as  well  as  strong  virtues.  Were 
he  a  person  of  mediocrity,  he  would  probably  have  passed 
through  the  world  without  censure.  When  his  good  quali- 
ties are  balanced  against  his  bad,  I  venture  to  say  that  we 
will  have  at  least  an  equipoise  ;  we  will  find  them  at  least  up 
to  the  average.  I  will  speak  of  those  virtues  which  were 
most  manifest  in  him.  He  was  magnanimous  by  nature, 
and  never  consulted  his  means  when  he  wished  to  do  a  good 
deed.  Rich  men  oppress  the  community  both  privately  and 
publicly.     There  is  a  crabbed  meanness  in  rich  men  gener- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  393 

ally  which  is  contemptible.  Colonel  Fisk  was  generous  to 
a  fault.  He  once  remarked  to  me  :  '  I  care  little  for  money 
for  its  own  sake.  I  wish  for  money  in  order  to  be  enabled 
to  do  good  to  others.'  He  gave  his  money  to  the  poor,  to 
such  as  truly  needed  it.  It  was  a  noble  feature  of  his  char- 
acter that  he  gave  not  to  those  who  had,  but  to  those  who 
had  not. 

"  When  lying  a  corpse  in  the  Grand  Central  Hotel,  a  lady 
holding  a  child  by  the  hand  attempted  to  force  her  way  into 
his  room.  'For  six  months,'  said  she,  'he  has  kept  me  and 
my  child  from  starvation,  and  I  have  never  seen  his  face.  I 
want  to  look  upon  my  noble  benefactor.' 

"  Another  peculiarity  was  his  independence  and  manliness 
of  character.  Colonel  Fisk  knew  how  to  sa}--  I  will  and  I 
will  not.  He  always  expressed  the  sentiment  of  his  soul  in 
spite  of  all  opposition.  This  is  a  virtue  which  cannot  be  too 
highl)''  commended,  There  was  nothing  of  the  hypocrite 
about  Colonel  Fisk.  Whatever  he  did  was  open  and  above 
board.  I  believe  that  he  did  everything,  whether  good  or 
bad,  from  conviction.  Those  things  which  shock  public  sen- 
timent are  not  to  be  commended,  but  conscientiousness  is. 
We  have  a  wide  testimony  to  his  work.  New  York  is  giv- 
ing such  testimony  at  this  moment.  No  matter  what  the 
maledictions  of  the  press  may  have  been,  and  no  matter  what 
those  persons  whom  he  has  beaten  at  their  own  game  may 
have  said  against  him,  they  have  all  had  the  manliness  to 
come  forth  in  the  last  few  days  and  acknowledge  his  virtues. 

"  The  crowded  hotel,  the  immense  and  respectable  assem- 
bly in  the  streets,  their  sad  faces  as  we  passed  in  procession 
to  the  depot,  show  that  where  true  virtue  exists,  the  world 
is  ever  ready  to  acknowledge  it.  We  have  everv  reason  to 
believe  that  he  gave  testimony  to  his  faith  in  Jesus.     We 


394  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

may  hope  that,  although  not  professing  that  name  during 
life,  his  prayer  has  been  heard  and  accepted  at  the  throne  of 
the  Almighty. 

"  As  for  you  who  have  met  with  so  deep  an  affliction,  there 
is  only  one  consolation  I  can  offer  you,  and  that  lies  in  your 
own  consciousness ;  you  know  what  he  has  done  for  you, 
you  know  his  goodness,  his  excellence  and  his  virtues,  and 
the  memory  of  this  will  ever  be  gratifying  to  you — will  ever 
be  a  power  to  banish  sorrow  from  your  hearts.  It  is  fitting 
that  his  body  should  be  returned  to  the  scenes  of  his  child- 
hood, that  he  should  come  back  in  death  to  his  native  hills. 
It  is  fitting  that  the  last  resting-place  of  citizen  soldiers 
should  be  among  those  scenes  where  every  footstep  brings 
a  reminder  of  the  glorious  deeds  of  our  revolutionary  fore- 
fathers. It  is  fitting  that  a  man  of  such  indomitable  courage 
should  lie  in  a  spot  which  has  been  prolific  of  so  much  hero- 
ism, and  which  has  furnished  the  world  with  so  many  cou- 
rageous men. 

"  In  conclusion,  let  me  warn  you  that  we  tread  in  uncer- 
tain places.  You  do  not  know  who  may  be  the  next  to  fall. 
Be  you  ready,  soldiers  of  the  Ninth.  You  especially  have 
reason  to  remember  the  terrible  time  which  called  your 
swords  from  your  scabbards  so  recently.  This  funeral  is  but 
a  sequel  to  the  funerals  which  followed  the  12th  of  July. 
You  may  again  be  called  upon  to  fight,  perhaps  to  fall,  in 
defense  of  your  country's  honor.  God  knows  whether  in 
the  uncertain  future  some  of  you  may  not  be  reserved  for  a 
similar  fate.  Heed,  then,  I  beg  of  you,  the  voice  which  pro- 
ceeds from  those  mute  lips.  Do  your  duty  to  your  regiment, 
to  your  God,  to  yourselvcs,*and  to  your  country." 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  395 

ft 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

The  letters  written  by  Colonel  Fisk  to  ISIiss  Mansfield  arc 
a  strange  compound  of  love,  jollity,  and  sorrow.  Some  arc 
flippant  in  the  extreme,  many  relate  to  money  matters  only, 
and  not  a  few  breathe  a  spirit  of  real  manhood.  Some  of 
those  last  written,  especially  those  written  after  his  separation 
from  Miss  Mansfield,  are  replete  with  genuine  sorrow,  and, 
more  than  that,  a  total  absence  of  the  reckless  indifference 
which  was  supposed  to  be  the  man's  dominant  characteristic. 
He  even  speaks  tenderly  of  the  rival  who  supplanted  him  in 
the  affections  of  Josie,  and  not  only  tells  her  "  Take  him,"  but 
says  that  no  harm  shall  come  to  him. 

The  letters  were  the  source  of  much  angry  litigation  be- 
fore they  were  printed,  and  their  publication  was  enjoined  by 
the  courts. 

Fisk's  first  letter  was  written  on  a  visiting  card.  This  was 
when  the  lady  bore  the  name  of  Lawlor,  and  before  she  be- 
came publicly  identified  with  Fisk : 

"  Mrs.  Josie  Lawlor,  42  Lexington  avenue :  Come.  Will 
you  come  over  with  Fred  and  dine  with  me  ?  If  your  friends 
are  there  bring  them  along.     Yours  truly,  .  J.  F.,  Jr. 

"  Have  not  heard  from  you  as  promised." 

On  the  back  of  the  card  was  the  following: 

"  Come.  Fred  is  at  the  door.  My  room,  eight  o'clock. 
After  many  good  looks  I  found  Mr.  Chamberlain.  The  un- 
derstanding is  now  that  yourself  and  Miss  Land  are  to  go 
with  me,  say  at  half-past  nine  o'clock,  and  the  above  gentle- 


39^  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

man  to  come  at  eleven  o'clock,  as  he  has  some  matters  to 
attend  to  which  will  take  him  until  that  time.  Answer  this 
if  you  will  be  ready  by  balf-past-nine  o'clock. 

"  Yours  truly,  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

One  day  in  January,  1868,  Mrs.  Mansfield  visited  the  Erie 
offices.  She  must  have  made  a  scene,  for  here  is  what  Fisk 
wrote  the  day  following : 

"  Strange  you  should  make  my  office  or  the  vicinity  the 
scene  for  a  '  personal.'  You  must  be  aware  that  harm  came 
to  me  in  such  foolish  vanity,  and  those  that  could  do  it  care 
but  little  for  the  interest  of  the  writer  of  this. 

"  Yours  truly,  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

Later  in  the  same  month  Fisk  felt  better  toward  his  in- 
amorata, and  sent  this,  the  following  curious  httle  note. 
From  the  fact  that  Fisk  addressed  her  by  a  pet  name,  it 
would  appear  that  Miss  Mansfield  had,  in  a  very  few  days, 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  a  wonderful  change  in  his  feel- 
ings toward  her : 

"  5th  Ave.  H. 

"Dolly:  Enclosed  find  money.  Bully  morning  for  a 
funeral !  J.  F.,  Jr." 

Mark  his  growing  infatuation : 

"  Dear  Josie  :  Get  ready  and  come  to  the  Twenty-third 
street  entrance  of  the  hotel  and  take  me  down-town,  and 
then  you  can  come  back  and  get  the  girls  for  the  Fulton  din- 
ner to-day.        Yours  truly,  Sardines." 

Here  is  a  soberer  one.     Perhaps  she  had  slighted  him  : 

"  Mrs.  Mansfield  :  The  sleigh  will  call  here  for  you  at 
two  P.M.  Yours,  J.  Fisk,  per  J.  C." 

His  wife  must  have  demanded  his  attention  when  the  fol- 
lowing note  was  written : 

"  My  people  are  partaking  of  New  York,  in  the  shape  of 


Jiijllli!IMiMil.,il&iUIMi^l^^^^  .niivrrarii:  11.'-' "[ 

THE    XKGKO   SKKVANT'S    TKIBL'TE   OF    FLOWERS. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  399 

White  Fawn,'  and  two  or  three  other  different  matters.  I 
may  not  be  able  to  see  you  again  to-night.  If  not,  will  take 
breakfast  with  you — the  best  I  could  do.  Yours  truly,  James. 

''February  5,  1868." 

Which  he  liked  best  is  shown  by  his  note  the  next  morn- 
ing: 

"  Dear  Dolly  :  Get  right  up  now,  and  I  will  be  down  to 
take  breakfast  with  you  in  about  thirty  minutes.  We  will 
take  breakfast  in  the  main  dining-room  down-stairs. 

"  Yours  truly,        James  Fisk,  Jr. 

"  Wednesday  Morning,  February  6.'" 

February  22,  1868,  Fisk  sent  Josie  some  money  and  a  note, 
saying : 

"  Have  the  kindness  to  acknowledge.     Yours  truly." 

February  26,  Fisk  took  Josie  to,  the  Opera  : 

"Dear  Josie:  I  have  got  some  matters  to  arrange,  and 
cannot  call  for  you  until  it  is  about  time  to  go.  I  will  be  there 
twenty  minutes  before  eight.     Be  ready.     Yours  tr\x\y, 

'' February  26,  \^6^.  James." 

There  is  a  tinge  of  grossness  coupled  with  his  love,  as 
evinced  in  his  letter  on  the  day  following : 

"  Dolly  :  Enclosed  find  $50.  Sleep,  Dolly,  all  the  sleep 
you  can  to-day — every  little  bit !  Sleep,  Dolly !  I  feel  as 
three  cents  worth  of  clams  would  help  me  some. 

"  Yours  truly,  J.  F.,  Jr." 

Again  separated  from  her  by  his  family : 

"  Monday  Morning. 

*'  I  am  going  to  the  San  Francisco  Minstrels  with  my 
family.  If  Mr.  L.  was  here  I  should  ask  him  to  take  you. 
Shall  see  you  to-morrow  evening.     Yours  truly,       J.  F.,  Jr." 

He  has  vexed  her — he  sends  more  money  j 


23 


400  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

"  Dolly  :    Enclosed   find .     I   am    wrong,   but   I   am 

bothered.     It  will  come  right.     When  I  don't  come  don't 
wait.     You  shall  not  be  placed  as  you  was  to-night  again. 

"  Wednesday  evening.      Yours  trul}^     James  Fisk,  Jr." 

Using  her  smiles  to  aid  a  railroad  scheme  : 

''  187  West  St.,  Tuesday  Oct.  13,  1868. 

"My  Dear  Josie:  James  McHenry,  the  partner  of  Sir 
Morton  Peto,  the  largest  railway  builder  in  the  world,  Mr. 
Tweed  and  Mr.  Lane  will  dine  with  us  at  half-past  six  o'clock. 
I  want  you  to  provide  as  nice  a  dinner  as  possible.  Every- 
thing went  on  elegantly.  We  are  all  safe.  Will  see  3^ou  at 
six  o'clock.  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

A  lapse  of  nine  months  intervenes,  during  which  it  would 
appear  that  Fisk  had  gone  to  live  with  Mrs.  Mansfield : 

"Monday,  Aug.  2,  1869. 

**  Dear  Josie  :  Send  my  valise,  with  two  shirts,  good  col- 
lars, vest,  handkerchiefs,  black  velvet  coat,  nice  vest,  patent 
leather  shoes,  light  pants.  I  am  going  to  Long  Branch  to 
see  about  the  celery.  Enclosed  find  $25,  Be  back  in  the 
morning.  J.  F.,  Jr." 

Still  more  money,  and  he  drops  the  formal  signature  ap- 
pended to  his  previous  letters : 

"St.  James  Hotel,  Sunday,  Oct.  18,  1869. 

"  Dear  Josie  :  Enclosed  you  will  find  S143. 

"  Yours  truly,         James." 

This  letter  has  a  penitent  and  beseeching  tone ;  evidently 
there  had  been  a  little  quarrel : 

"  February  10,  1870. 

"  My  Dear  Dolly  :  Will  you  see  me  this  morning  ?  If  so 
what  hour?  Yours  truly,  ever,  James." 

Still  more  money : 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  4OI 

"  loTH  OF  March. 
"Dear  Dolly:  Enclosed  find  f 75,  which  you  need;  do 
not  wait  dinner  for  me  to-night,  I  cannot  come. 

"  Yours  truly,  ever,  James." 

Money  again  : 

"  My  Dear  Josie  :  Enclosed  find  your  request.  I  will 
send  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  for  the  things.  I  cannot  go  to  the 
house  as  much  as  I  w^ould  like  to.  Yours,  James. 

"  J/^/6,  1870." 

Here  is  a  letter  relative  to  a  colored  man  whom  Fisk  sent  to 
Josie  for  a  servant : 

"  Comptroller's  Office,  Erie  Railway  Company, 

"  New  York,  Maj',  1870. 
"Dolly:  What  do  you  think  of  this  man?     I  told  him 
you  would  talk  to  him,  and  then  tell  him  to  come  back  to  me 
next  Monday,  and  I  will  talk  to  3'ou  about  it. 

"  Yours  truly,  James." 

Tn  the  following  letter  Fisk  shows  a  curious  change  : 

"C.  Office,  May  31,  1870. 
"  Please  send   me  the  diamond  brooch  and  necklace,  my 
dear.  James." 

The  above  letter  would  seem  to  show  that  Fisk  had  found 
another  on  whom  to  bestow  his  affections.  The  following 
looks  as  if  the  letter  referred  to  by  Fisk  might  be  the  first 
from  Stokes,  and  it  seems  to  have  awakened  Fisk's  love  for 
Josie : 

"August  i,  1870. 

"  My  Dear  Josie  :  I  send  you  letter  I  found  to  my  care  on 

my  desk.     I  cannot  come  to  you  to-night.     I  shall  stay  in 

town   to-night,  and   probably   to  -  morrow  night,  and   after 

that  I  must  go  East.     On  my  return  I  shall  come  to  see  you. 

am  sure  you  will  say,  'What  a  fool!'     But  you  must  rest. 


402  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

and  so  must  I.  The  thread  is  so  slender  I  dare  not  strahi  it 
more.  I  am  sore,  but  God  made  me  so,  and  I  have  not  the 
power  to  change  it. 

"  Loving  3'ou,  as  7i07ic  but  you,  I  am,  yours,  ever,     James." 

In  the  quarrel  between  Josie  and  Fisk,  Miss  Nully  Peiris, 
Mr.  Rane,  and  Stokes  seem  to  have  been  suspected  by  Fisk 
of  plotting  against  him.  He  thus  complains  of  a  despatch  which 
"  Rane"  sent  to  Stokes,  who  was  at  Saratoga  or  Buffalo,  to 
come  to  New  York  : 

"  August  4,  1870. 

"  Dear  Josie  :  I  found  on  my  arrival  at  my  office  that  the 
following  despatch  had  passed  West  last  night : 

"  '  E.  S.  Stokes,  Buffalo  and  Saratoga  Springs  : 

"  *  Pay  no  attention  to  former  despatch.  Come  on  first  train. 

" '  Rane.' 

"  Of  course,  it  means  nothing  that  you  are  azvare  of.  But 
let  me  give  you  the  author  of  it  and  my  authority,  and  you 
will  see  how  faithfully  they  have  worked  the  case  out  after 
my  departure  last  evening.  Miss  Peiris  drove  directly  to 
Rane's  office;  from  there  to  the  corner  of  Twentj^-second 
street  and  Broadway,  where  the  above  despatch  v/as  sent, 
and  from  there  to  RuUey's.  A  third  party  was  with  them, 
but  who  left  them  there.  Rane  and  Peiris,  why  should  they 
need  Stokes.  '  Comment  is  unnecessary'— a  plotting  house, 
and  against  me.  What  have  '  I  done'  that  Nully  Peiris  should 
work  against  my  peace  of  mind?  Yours  truly,  ever,   James. 

"  P.  S. — Since  writing  the  within,  I  understand  a  despatch 
has  reached  New  York  that  he  is  on  his  'Avay.  James." 

Here  is  a  letter  from  Josie.     See  how  much  she  loved  him : 

"  September,  1870. 

"James  Fisk,  Jr.:  That  your  letter  had  the  desired  effeci 
you  can  well  imagine.     I  am  honest  enough  to  admit  it  cut 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  4O3 

mc  to  the  quick.  In  all  the  annals  of  letter-writing,  I  may 
say  it  eclipsed  them  all.  Your  secretary  made  a  slii^ht  error, 
however,  in  supposing  that  Mile.  Montaland  was  mentioned. 
The  only  prima  donna  I  had  referred  to  was  '  Miss  Pciris.' 
As  you  say,  Mile,  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  m^'  affairs. 
I  have  always  respected  her,  and  only  thought  of  her  as  one 
of  the  noblest  works  of  God — beautiful  and  talented,  and 
your  choice — never  referring  to  her  in  my  letter  in  thought  or 
word.  I  freely  admit  I  never  expected  so  severe  a  letter 
from  you.  I,  of  course,  feel  it  was  unmerited;  but  as  it  is 
your  opinion  of  me,  I  accept  it  with  all  the  sting.  You  have 
struck  home,  and  I  may  say  turned  the  knife  around.  I  will 
send  you  the  picture  you  speak  of  at  once.  The  one  in  ihe 
parlor  I  will  also  dispose  of.  I  know  of  nothing  else  here 
that  you  vrould  wish.  I  am  anxious  to  adjust  our  affairs.  I 
certainly  do  not  wish  to  annoy  you,  and  that  I  may  be  able 
to  do  so  I  write  you  this  last  letter. 

"You  have  told  me  very  often  that  you  held  some  twenty 
or  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  mine  in  your  keeping.  I 
do  not  know  if  it  is  so,  but  that  I  may  be  able  to  shape  my 
affairs  permanently  for  the  future  that  a  part  of  the  amount 
would  place  me  in  a  position  where  I  would  never  have  to 
appeal  to  3-ou  for  aught.  I  have  r\c\QV  had  one  dollar  frojn 
any  one  else,  and  arriving  here  from  the  Branch,  expecting  my 
affairs  v/ith  you  to  continue,  I  contracted  bills  that  I  would 
not  otherwise  have  done.  I  do  not  ask  for  anything  I  have 
not  been  led  to  suppose  was  mine,  and  do  not  ask  you  to  set- 
tle what  is  not  cntirel}-  convenient  for  you.  After  a  time  I 
shall  sell  my  house,  but  for  the  present  think  it  best  to  re- 
main in  it.  The  money  I  speak  of  would  place  mc  where  I 
should  need  the  assistance  of  no  one. 

"  The  ring  I  take  back  as  fairly  as  I  gave  it  to  you  ;  the 


404  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

mate  to  it  I  shall  keep  for  company.  Why  you  could  say  I 
obtained  this  house  by  robbery,  I  cannot  imagine ;  however 
you  know  best.  I  am  sorry  that  your  association  with  me 
was  detrimental  to  you,  and  I  would  gladly  with  you  (were 
it  possible)  obliterate  the  last  three  years  of  my  life's  history  ; 
but  it  is  not  possible,  and  we  must  struggle  to  outlive  our 
past.  I  trust  you  will  take  the  sense  of  this  letter  as  it  is 
meant,  and  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  I  send  this  by  Ella, 
and  what  you  do  not  understand  she  will  explain." 

To  this  and  other  letters  of  Josie,  Fisk  made  the  following 

reply : 

"  New  York,  Oct.  i,  1870. 

"  Mrs.  Mansfield  : — There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the 
authority  of  the  letter  which  was  handed  to  me  yesterday  by 
your  servant,  in  this  respect  differing  from  the  epistle  which 
you  say  you  received  from  Miss  Peiris,  and  which,  in  your 
opinion,  required  the  united  efforts  of  herself.  Mile.  Monta- 
land,  and  myself.     Certainly  the  composition  should  be  good 
if  these  parties  had  combined  to  produce  it.     But  the  slight 
mistake  you  make  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  letter  re- 
ferred to  was  never  seen  by  me,  and,  I  presume,  Mile.  Mon- 
taland  is  equally  ignorant  of  its  existence,  as  it  is  not  likely 
she  troubles  herself  about  your  affairs.     I  can  scarcely  be- 
lieve that  she  assisted  Miss  Peiris  in  composing  the  letter, 
and  the  credit  is,  therefore,  due  to  Miss  Peiris  for  superior 
talent  in  correspondence.     As  far  as  the  great  exposure  you 
speak  of  is  concerned,  that  is  a  dark  entry  upon  which  I  have 
no  light ;  and  as  I  fail  to  see  it,  I  cannot,  of  course,  under- 
stand it.     I  have  endeavored  to  put  your  jumbled  letter  to- 
gether, in  order  to  arrive  at  your  meaning,  and  I  presume  I 
have  some  idea  of  what  you  wish  to  convey ;  but  as  your 
statements  lack  the  important  element  of  truth,  they  cannot 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  405 

of  course,  have  any  wei<^ht  with  me.  You  may  not  be  to 
blame  for  entertaining  the  idea  that  you  have  shown  great 
kindness  to  Miss  Peiris  and  others,  and  that  they  are  under 
great  obUgations  to  you  for  favors  conferred.  The  habit  of 
constantly  imagining  that  you  were  the  real  author  of  all  the 
benefits  bestowed  upon  others,  would  naturally  affect  a  much 
better  balanced  brain  than  yours,  and  in  time  you  would 
come  to  believe  that  you  alone  had  the  power  to  distribute 
the  good  things  to  those  around  you,  utterly  forgetful  of  him 
who  was  behind  the  scenes,  entirely  unnoticed.  Can  you 
blame,  then,  those  from  whose  eyes  the  veil  has  fallen,  and 
who  see  you  in  your  true  light,  as  the  giver  of  other's  char- 
ities ?  I  would  not  trouble  myself  to  answer  your  letters,  and 
I  do  not  consider  it  a  duty  I  owe  you,  to  give  you  a  final  ex- 
pression of  my  opinion.  In  venting  your  spite  on  iNIiss  Peiris, 
(with  whose  affairs,  by  the  way,  I  have  nothing  to  do,)  you 
have  written  a  letter,  in  answering  which  you  afford  me  an 
opportunity  of  conveying  to  you  my  ideas  respecting  the 
theories  which  you  have  taken  every  opportunity  to  express 
to  those  around  you,  and  which  many  people  have  considered 
merely  the  emanations  of  a  crazy  brain,  I  could  not  coincide 
with  this  view  ;  for  crazy  people  are  not  inclined  to  do  pre- 
cisely as  they  please,  cither  right  or  wrong,  and  so  long  as 
the}^  are  loose,  I  consider  them  sane,  and,  therefore,  I  could 
not  put  that  construction  on  your  conversation. 

"  As  for  Miss  Peiris  '  being  a  snake  in  the  grass,'  I  care  but 
little  about  that.  She  can  do  me  neither  harm  nor  good.  I 
have  done  all  that  has  been  done  for  her  during  the  past 
year.  She  comes  to  me  and  says  :  '  Sir,  you  have  been  my 
friend  ;  you  have  assisted  me  in  my  troubles,  and  I  thank 
you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart.'  That  is  a  full  and  suffi- 
cient recompense  for  me  for  any  good  I  may  have  done  her, 


406  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

and  she  can  return.  If  she  be  a  snake  in  the  grass,  I  know 
full  well  her  sting  is  gone,  and  she  is  harmless.  But  what 
think  you  of  a  Vv'oman  who  would  veil  my  eyes  first  by  a 
gentle  kiss,  and  afterward,  night  and  day,  for  weeks,  months, 
and  years,  by  deceit  and  fraud,  to  lead  me  through  the  dark 
valley  of  trouble,  when  she  could  have  made  my  pathway 
one  of  roses,  committing  crimes  which  the  devil  incarnate 
would  shrink  from,  while  all  this  time  I  showed  to  her,  as  to 
you,  nothing  but  kindness  both  in  words  and  actions,  laying 
at  3'our  feet  a  soul,  a  heart,  a  fortune,  and  a  reputation,  which 
had  cost,  by  night  and  day,  twenty-five  years  of  perpetual 
struggle,  and  which,  but  for  the  black  blot  of  having,  in  an 
evil  hour,  linked  itself  with  you,  would  stand  out  to-day 
brighter  than  any  ever  seen  upon  earth.  But  the  mist  has 
fallen,  and  you  appear  in  your  true  light.  I  borrow  your 
own  words  to  describe  you,  '  a  snake  in  the  grass,'  and  verily 
I  have  found  thee  out,  and  you  have  the  audacity  to  call 
your  sainted  mother  to  witness  your  advice  to  me.  'A  dog 
that  bites,  etc.,  etc' 

"  You  accuse  her  of  leading  you  on,  and  of  ever  standing 
ready  to  make  appointments  for  you.  The  tone  of  your  let- 
ter is  such  that  you  seem  willing  to  shoulder  the  load  of 
guilt  under  which  an  ordinar}''  criminal  would  stagger.  I 
believe  you  have  arrived  at  that  stage  when  no  amount  of 
guilt  will  disturb  your  serenity  or  prevent  your  having  sweet 
dreams,  and  we  still  shall  see  you  crawl — '  a  snake  in  the 
grass.' 

"  How  I  worship  the  night  I  said :  *  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan  ! '  The  few  weeks  that  have  elapsed  since  that  blessed 
hour,  how  I  bless  them  for  the  peace  of  mind  they  have 
brought  me !  And  the  Avorld  looks  bright,  and  I  have  a  be- 
ing.    You   imagined  I  would   pursue   you   again,  and   you 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  40/ 

thought  I  would  endeavor  to  tear  down  the  castle  you  had 
obtained  by  robbery.  God  knows  that  if  I  am  an  element 
so  lost  to  every  feeling  of  decency  as  to  be  willing  to  link 
itself  with  you,  I  will  assist  and  foster  it,  so  that  it  will  keep 
you  fi'om  crawling  toward  me,  and  prevent  me  from  looking 
on  you  as  a  snake,  as  you  are,  and  from  raising  a  hand  in  pity 
to  assist  you,  should  trouble  again  cross  your  path.  So,  I 
have  no  fears  that  I  will  again  come  near  you.  I  send  you 
back  a  ring,  and,  were  I  to  say  anything  about  it,  the  words 
w^ould  be  only  too  decent  for  the  same,  were  they  couched 
in  the  worst  of  language.  So,  I  say,  take  it  back.  Its 
memory  is  indecent,  and  it  is  the  last  souvenir  I  have  that 
reminds  me  of  you.  I  had  a  few  pictures  of  you,  but  they 
have  found  a  place  among  the  nothings  which  fill  the  waste- 
basket  under  my  table.  I  am  aware  that  in  your  back  parlor 
hangs  the  picture  of  the  man  who  gave  you  the  wall  to  hang 
it  on,  and  rumor  says  you  have  another  in  your  chamber. 
The  picture  up-stairs  send  back  to  me.  Take  the  other 
down,  for  he  whom  it  represents  has  no  respect  for  you. 
x\fter  you  read  this  letter,  you  should  be  ashamed  to  look 
at  the  picture  ;  for  you  would  say,  '  With  all  thy  faults  I 
love  thee  still ;'  and  what  would  be  merely  the  same  oft-re- 
peated lie.  So,  take  it  down.  Do  not  keep  anything  in  that 
house  that  looks  like  me. 

"  If  there  are  any  unsettled  business  matters  that  it  is 
proper  for  me  to  arrange,  send  them  to  me,  and  make  the 
explanation  as  brief  as  possible. 

"  I  fain  would  reach  the  point  where  not  even  the  slightest 
necessity  will  exist  for  any  intercourse  between  us.  I  am  in 
hopes  this  will  end  it.  James  Fisk,  Jr." 

Then  Fisk  wrote  about  the  $25,000  : 


408  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"New  York,  Oct.  4,  1870. 

"  After  the  departure  of  Etta  to-day,  I  wasted  time  enough 
to  read  over  once  more  the  letter,  of  which  she  was  the  bearer, 
from  you  to  me,  and  I  determined  to  reply  to  it,  for  the 
reason  that,  if  it  remain  unanswered,  you  might  possibly 
think  I  did  not  really  mean  what  I  said  when  I  wrote ;  and, 
besides,  I  was  apprehensive  that  the  friendly  talk  carried  on 
through  Etta,  at  second  hand,  between  you  and  me,  might 
lead  you  to  suppose  I  had  somewhat  repented  of  the  course 
I  had  taken,  or  of  the  words  I  had  penned.  It  is  to  remove 
any  such  impression  that  I  again  write  to  you,  as  I  would 
have  the  language  of  my  former  letter,  and  the  sentiments 
therein  expressed,  stamped  upon  j^our  heart  as  my  deep- 
seated  opinion  of  your  character.  No  other  construction 
must  be  put  upon  my  words.  I  turn  over  the  first  page  of 
your  letter;  I  pass  over  the  kind  words  you  have  written; 
have  I  not  furnished  a  satisfactory  mansion  for  others'  use  ? 
Have  I  not  fulfilled  every  promise  I  have  made  ?  Is  there  not 
a  stabihty  about  your  finances  to-da}^  (if  not  disturbed  by 
vultures)  sufficient  to  afford  you  a  comfortable  income  for 
the  remainder  of  your  natural  life  ?  You  say  you  have  never 
received  a  dollar  from  any  one  but  me,  and  you  will  never 
have  another  from  me,  until  want  and  misery  bring  you  to 
my  door,  except,  of  course,  in  fulfilment  of  my  sacrcKi  promise, 
and  the  settlement  of  your  bills  up  to  three  weeks  ago,  at 
five  minutes  to  eleven  o'clock. 

"  You  need  have  no  fear  as  to  my  sensitiveness  regarding 
your  calling  on  any  one  else  for  assistance,  as  I  find  the  word 
'  assistance '  underlined  in  your  letter,  to  make  it  more  im- 
pressive on  my  mind.  That,  of  all  others,  is  the  point  I 
would  have  you  reach  ;  for  in  that  you  would  say,  '  Why, 
man,  how  beautiful  you  are  to  look  at,  but  nothing  to  lean 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  A^ 

on  ! '  And  you  may  well  imagine  my  surprise  at  your  selec- 
tion of  the  clement  you  have  chosen  to  fill  my  places  (Stokes). 
I  was  shown  to-day  his  diamonds,  which  had  been  sacrificed 
to  our  people  at  one-half  their  value,  and,  undoubtedly,  if 
this  were  n(3t  so,  the  money  would  have  been  turned  over  to 
you,  that  you  might  feel  contented  as  to  the  permanency  of 
your  affairs.  You  will,  therefore,  excuse  me  if  F decline  your 
modest  request  for  a  still  further  disbursement  of  $25,000.  I 
very  naturally  feel  that  some  part  of  this  amount  might  be 
used  to  release  from  the  pound  the  property  of  others,  in 
whose  welfare  the  writer  of  this  does  ?wf  feel  unbounded  in- 
terest. 

"  You  say  that  you  hope  that  I  will  take  the  sense  of  your 
letter.  There  is  but  one  sense  to  be  taken  out  of  it,  and  that 
is  an  '  epitaph,'  to  be  cut  on  the  stone  at  the  head  of  the 
grave  in  which  Miss  Helen  Josephine  Mansfield  has  buried 
her  pride.  Had  she  been  the  same  proud-spirited  girl  that 
she  was  when  she  stood  side-by-side  with  me,  she  would  not 
have  humbled  herself  to  ask  a  permanency  of  one  whom  she 
had  so  deeply  wronged,  nor  would  she  stoop  to  be  indebted 
to  him  for  a  home,  which  would  have  furnished  a  haven  ot 
rest,  pleasure  and  debauchery,  without  cost,  to  those  who 
had  crossed  his  path  and  robbed  him  of  the  friendship  he 
once  felt.  The  length  of  time  since  I  had  seen  her,  and  the 
kind  words  she  spoke,  left  my  mind  ill  prepared  for  the 
perusal  of  your  letter  at  that  time,  and  it  was  not  until  after 
her  departure,  when  I  was  seated  quietly  alone,  that  I  took 
in  the  full  intent  and  meaning  of  your  letter,  and  felt  that  it 
was  '  robbery,'  and  nothing  else. 

"  Now,  pin  this  letter  with  the  other, — the  front  of  this  is 
the  back  of  that, — and  you  will  have  a  telescopic  view  of 
yourself,  and  your  character,  as  you  appear  to  me  to-day 


410  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

and  then,  I  ask  you,  turn  back  from  pages  of  your  life's  his- 
tory, counting  each  page  one  week  of  )'^our  life,  and  see  how 
I  looked  to  thee  then,  and  ask  your  own  guilt}'  heart  if  you 
had  not  better  let  me  alone  ;  and,  instead  of  tr3nng  to  answer 
this  letter  from  your  disorganized  brain,  or  writing  from  the 
dictation  of  those  around  you  to-da3\  simply  take  a  piece  of 
paper,  and  write  on  it  the  same  as  I  do  now,  so  far  as  we  are 
now,  or  ever  may  be — '  Dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes.    Amen.* 

"J.  F.,JR." 

But  Fisk  could  not  resist  the  fatal  influence.  He  pays  her 
bills  : 

"  (J.  F.,  Jr.)     [Monogram.] 

"Oct.  19,  1870. 

"  Madame  : — Enclosed,  I  send  you  bill  of  Harris  receipted, 
and  I  also  beg  to  hand  you  $126.29,  being  the  honest  propor- 
tion of  the  Bassford  bill,  which  belongs  to  me  to  pay.  I 
should  have  made  the  word  'honest'  more  definite;  for,  had 
not  Mr.  Bassford  to  put  the  dates  to  the  bill,  as  he  had  re- 
ceived instructions  from  Miss  Mansfield  to  have  the  bill  all 
under  the  date  of  June  8,  1870,  although  ($146.26)  the  amount 
of  the  goods,  as  bought  by  you  or  your  agent,  was  spent  at  a 
much  later  date.  I  should  not  suppose  you  would  care  to 
place  yourself  in  the  light  that  this  bill  put  you,  knowing  as 
I  do  the  instructions  that  you  gave  Mr.  Bassford,  I  had  sup- 
posed you  '  honest,'  but  I  find  that  a  trace  of  that  virtue  does 
not  even  cling  to  you. 

"  I  am  yours,  J.  F.,  Jr." 

"  a  fearful  dream." 

"Department  of  Finance,  Erie  Railway, 
New  York,  Oct.  20,  1870. 
**  Madam  :  You  know  I  would  not  wrong  you,  and  I  would 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  4I I 

take  back  all  my  acts  when  there  could  be  a  shadow  of  doubt 
that  you  was  right  and  I  was  wrong ;  and  let  me  speak  of 
the  other  harsh  letters  I  have  written.  I  wrote  them  because 
you  had  wronged  me  positively,  and  because  you  had  placed 
between  me  and  my  life,  my  hopes  and  my  happiness,  an 
eternal  gulf,  and  I  felt  sore  and  revengeful,  and  on  those  I 
am  now  the  same.  It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  write  about 
them  or  about  us,  when  I  could  talk  to  you  there.  You  did 
not  listen.    I  presume  it  to  be  the  same  now. 

"  The  entire  connection  is  like  a  dream  to  me — a  fearful 
dream — from  which  I  have  awoke,  and,  while  dreaming, 
supposed  my  soul  had  gone  out;  and  the  awakening  tells 
me  I  am  saved,  and,  from  the  embers  of  the  late  fire,  there 
smoulders  no  spirit  of  revenge  toward  you,  for  3-ou  acted 
right,  and  the  wrong  only  came  to  me  from  you  because  you 
did  not  act  sooner,  and  I  would  not  believe  that  an)^  power 
on  earth  would  make  any  question  of  mone}'  influence  me 
or  come  between  me  and  the  holy  feeling  I  once  had  for 
you.  I  sent  John  to  Bassford's,  and  the}-  told  him  what  I 
said,  or  he  told  me  so,  that  the  dates  of  the  bill  should  not 
be  changed.  But  what  does  it  matter  whether  it  is  so  or 
not.  I  cannot /tv/ that  you  would  do  it,  and  something  says 
to  me  this  was  one  of  the  things  she  was  not  like.  So  I  pass 
it  by,  and  if  the  letters  of  last  night  or  to-day  are  not  like  me 
3'ou  can  wash  the  bad  act  out  from  your  memory,  and  leave 
but  the  one  idea  that  I  want  to  do  my  duty  and  fulfill  every 
unsettled  relic.  At  least  in  my  heart  rests  no  remorse,  for 
the  memory  is  too  deeply  seated  and  I  would  cherish  all 
that  is  good  about  you,  and  forget  forever  the  bad.  Of  late 
you  have  thought  different  from  me  (this  may  be  imaginary 
on  my  part),  for  which  I  think  )'0u  give  me  all  the  credit 
you  can.     We  have  parted  for  ever.     Now,  let  us  make  the 


412  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

memory  of  the  past  as  bright  and  beautiful  as  we  can;  for 
on  m)-  side  there  is  so  little  to  cherish  that  I  cling  to  it  with 
great  tenacity,  and  hope  from  time  to  time  to  wear  it  off. 
You  know  full  well  how  I  have  suffered.  Once  you  knew 
me  better  than  any  one  on  earth.  To-day  you  know  me 
less.  It  is  the  proper  light  for  you  to  stand  in.  It  is  all 
you  desire  on  your  side.     It  is  all  you  deserve  on  mine. 

"  This  letter  should  remain  and  be  read  only  by  you. 
Should  you  see  fit  to  answer  it,  the  answer  will  be  the 
same  way  kept  by  me.  There  has  been  a  storm.  The 
ship,  a  noble  steamer,  has  gone  down.  The  storm  is  over, 
and  the  sea  is  smooth  again. 

'  Little  ships  should  keep  near  shore; 
Greater  ships  can  venture  more.' 

" '  My  ship  is  small  and  poorly  officered.' 

"  I  am  yours  ever,  etc.,  etc.,  J.  F.,  Jr. 

"  P.S. — I  would  have  liked  to  have  answered  your  letter  in 
full,  but,  as  you  say,  I  have  not  a  well-balanced  brain,  and  I 
know  I  could  not  do  justice  to  a  letter  of  that  kind,  so  refrain, 
and  content  to  let  the  sentiments  of  it  '  know  and  fret  me.'  " 

Josie  called  on  Fisk  frequently  during  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober. As  much  as  he  had  resolved  on  separation,  her  pre- 
sence always  melted  his  heart.     This  letter  explains  itself: 

"  October  25,  1870. 
"  Why  should  I  write  you  again  ?  Shall  I  ever  reach  the 
end.  There  comes  another  and  another  chapter,  until  I  get 
weary  with  the  entire  affair.  I  would  forget  it,  and  no  doubt 
you  would  the  same.  The  mistake  yesterday  was  almost 
the  mistake  of  a  life-time  for  me.  Who  supposed  for  an 
instant  that  you  would  ever  cross  my  path  again  in  a  spirit 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  413 

of  submission  and  with  a  contrite  spirit?  You  have  done 
that  you  should  be  sorr}-  for,  and  I  the  same  in  permitting 
it.  This  cannot  be,  and  I  shall  write  you  the  final  letter, 
and  I  shall  see  you  no  more.  I  told  you  that  much  yester- 
day evening,  and  shall  I  write  it  to  you  again.  Yes,  for  the 
reason  I  treated  you  falsely  last  night,  and  I  left  you  with  a 
dilferent  impression,  and  I  would  put  that  right.  You  acted 
so  differently  from  your  nature  that  I  forgive  you,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  bring  my  mind  to  bear  how  I  could  take 
you  back  again.  First,  the  devil  stood  behind,  and  my  bet- 
ter reason  gave  way  for  the  moment,  and  I  came  away,  tell- 
ing you  I  would  see  you  no  more.  When  your  better  char- 
acter comes  in  contact  with  mine,  we  are  so  much  alike  that 
much  of  what  is  said,  like  that  last  night,  had  better  been 
unsaid.  All  now  looks  bright  and  beautiful,  and  my  better 
nature  trembles  at  ideas  that  were  expressed  last  night.  But 
that  I  should  have  left  on  your  mind  an  idea  that  you  could 
control  me  is  erroneous.  There  are  truths  in  this  affair,  and 
they  must  be  spoken.  You  have  gone  out  from  one  element 
and  have  taken  another  (Stokes),  and  for  you  to  turn  back, 
either  when  you  are  situated  that  way,  or  when  even  you  could 
say  that  element  had  gone,  should  make  no  difference  to  me. 
It  was  you  that  took  the  step,  and  3^ou  should  and  shall  suffer 
the  consequences.     Supposing  the  part  you  took  last  night 

and  yesterday  afternoon  was  one  of  truths  if  not,  and  I 

Again,  if  you  was  not  dealing  from  your  heart  in  what  took 
place,  and  I  hope  it  was  not  true,  then  there  are  no  conse- 
quences and  no  suffering  for  you  to  endure,  Why,  it  has 
been  many  a  long  year  since  I  could  say  to  myself  that  I 
had  committed  such  a  folly.  To  find  another  like  yesterday 
would  bring  me  back  almost  to  childhood.  To  imagine  that 
I  should  have  again  crossed  your  threshold,  and  crossed  it, 


414  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

too,  deliberately,  knowing  that  the  same  facts  existed  that 
had  given  me  all  my  trouble,  and  made  me  this  sorrow — ■ 
why,  it  is  devilish.  I  told  you  that  I  had  passed  the  realm 
where  I  had  forgiven  you  all  the  sorrow  you  had  made  me, 
and  that  I  would  not  murmur ;  I  would  not  find  fault  with 
all  that  I  saw.  I  would  fain  tear  your  image  from  my  mind, 
and  I  will.  Why,  I  thought  all  night  last  night,  and  all  day 
to-day,  of  your  saying,  *  I  would  rather  be  a  toad,'  etc.,  etc. 
Was  that  written  to  apply  to  me  ?  I  should  say  so.  Yes. 
Who  knows  what  you  would  not  conceive  ?  No  one  but  your- 
self And  I  must  weigh  you  carefully,  for  I  have  nothing 
but  a  great  character  to  deal  with,  and  I  must  meet  things 
carefull3\  You  might  suppose  you  could  love  two,  and 
perhaps  more  elements,  and  make  them  hover  near  you. 
Certainly  you  did  last  night,  and,  for  shame,  I  was  one  of 
them.  But  it  will  iiever  occur  again.  For  once  let  us  be 
honest.  You  went  that  road  because  it  looked  smooth  and 
pleasant,  and  mine  looked  ragged  and  worn.  Now,  a  mis- 
take cannot  be  found  out  too  soon.  Travel  further  along, 
and  you  don't  try  to  turn  so  soon.  I  can  see  you  now  as 
you  were  last  night,  when  you  talked  of  this  man  (Stokes) ; 
and  do  not  deceive  yourself— j^?^  love  him.  Yesterday  there 
was  nothing  left  but  the  breaking  up  of  strong  pride  and  the 
giving  way  of  wilfulness.  Cling  to  that  one.  Leave  me 
alone ;  for  in  me  you  have  nothing  left.  Why  ask  me  to 
weaken  yourself  with  him?  All  this  you  must  study  ;  but  I 
pledge  you  to-night  that  I  will  not  countenance  even  your 
impression  on  my  mind  until  the  door  is  closed  behind  him 
forever.  For  what  you  can  gain  from  me  you  probably 
cannot  afford  to  do  that ;  so  let  me  advise  you — nourish  him 
and  be  careful.  Nothing  is  so  bad  for  you  as  changes.  He 
loves  you  ;  you  love  him. 


REMOVING   COL.  FISK   AFTER   HE   WAS  SHOT. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  417 

"You  have  caused  mc  all  the  misery  you  could.  Cling  to 
him.  Be  careful  what  you  do,  or  he  will  be  watchful.  How- 
well  he  knows  you  cheated  me.  He  will  look  for  the  same. 
And  now  I  know  precisely  how  you  stand  from  your  own 
lips  ;  I  will  treat  him  differently.  Although  you  would  not 
protect  him,  I  will.  While  he  is  there,  and  until  his  memory 
is  buried  forever,  never  approach  me,  for  I  shall  send  you 
away  unseen.  Ever  be  careful  that  you  do  not  have  the 
feeling  that  3'ou  can  come  back  to  me,  for  there  is  a  wide 
gulf  between  you  and  me.  I  would  not  hold  a  false  hope 
out  to  you.  I  shall  not  trouble  you  more  in  this  letter.  You 
have  the  only  idea  I  can  express  to  you.  You  know  when 
you  can  see  me  again,  if  ever.  The  risk  for  you  is  too  great. 
Loving  and  suited  as  you  are,  cling  to  him  for  the  present, 
and  when  your  nature  grows  tired  of  that  throw  him  off. 
And  so  long  until  it  is  time  for  you  to  be  weary  and  for  you 
to  be  '  put  in  your  little  bed '  forever,  you  must  rest  con- 
tented. Don't  begin  plotting  to-morrow.  Take  to-morrow 
for  thought,  and  be  governed  by  this  letter,  for  the  writer 
has  much  of  your  destiny  in  his  hands." 

He  addresses  her  formally,  but  his  signature  to  the  follow- 
ing letter  shows  the  old  yearning  for  her  : 

"Nov.  I,  1870. 

"  Miss  Mansfield  :  I  have  taken  the  steps  for  the  corn 
doctress's  removal  to  a  Southern  clime,  where  her  business 
should  be  better,  as  vegetables  of  that  class  thrive  more  rap- 
idly there  than  on  our  bleak  shores.  I  presume  it  will  take 
from  two,  or  say  four  days,  before  I  get  the  passes,  when 
they  will  be  sent  to  you.  Should  she  call  on  you,  say  to  her 
to  come  back  in  four  days  and  you  will  have  them  for  her 
I  sent  you  a  package  by  Maggie  for  what  you  wanted  on 
Saturday  evening,  with  a  little  surplus  over  for  trimmings, 
24 


41 8  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

which  I  hope  you  received.  I  am  of  your  opinion  regarding 
not  only  Dr.  Pape,  but  all  of  the  doctors.  You  are  well,  let 
nature  take  its  course.  You  are  in  too  good  health  to  tam- 
per with  a  constitution  as  good  as  yours.  This  is  important 
for  your  consideration.  "  Yours  truly,      James." 

The  following  letter  would  indicate  that  they  had  met, 
and  that  there  was  prospect  of  a  reconciliation: 

"  Nov.  10,  1870. 

"  Enclosed  find  $300.  Please  use.  I  am  very  sorry  we 
could  not  have  arrived  at  a  more  satisfactory  conclusion  last 
night.  I  did  all  I  could,  and  the  same  feeling  prevails  o'er 
me  now.  With  careful  and  watchful  manner  you  should 
look  at  all  our  affairs.  You  should  make  no  mistake.  You 
told  me  I  should  hear  from  you  when  you  came  to  a  conclu- 
sion. Therefore  I  wait  upon  your  early  reply,  and  until  then 
I  must  of  course  pursue  the  same  course  I  have  for  the  last 
six  weeks.  I  hope  we  shall  mutually  understand  each  other, 
for  the  thing  could  be  made,  as  should  be  made,  satisfactory 
to  you.  "  I  am,  yours,  James." 

And  yet  more  money.  It  looks  as  if  there  had  been  fur- 
ther meetings: 

"  Erie  Railway  Company.  Treasurer's  Office,  Nov.  7, 
1870,  Receiving  Desk — $500. 

"Wm.  H.  B. 

"  Erie  Railway  Company.  Treasurer's  Office,  Nov.  19, 
1870,  Receiving  desk — $500. 

"Wm.  H.  B. 

"  Please  acknowledge  receipt.  James." 

More  favors : 

"  November  ii,  1870. 

"  Enclosed  you  will  find  the  order  on  Miss  Guthrie,  which 

have  Etta  or  you  present,  and  it  will  be  all  right.     Mr.  Co- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  419 

mer  gave  them  an  order  not  to  deliver  anything  only  on  my 
written  order  to  stop  the  'opera  bouffers;'  but  present  this 
enclosed  order,  and  it  will  be  all  right.  Mrs.  Reher  was 
here  this  morning,  and  I  gave  her  transportation  for  self  and 
Michael  to  Charleston  by  steamer. 

"  Enclosed  you  will  find  box  at  theatre  in  order  to  get  the 
same,  as  it  was  sold.  I  have  convinced  myself  that  I  desire 
you  and  yours  to  come. 

"  Please  answer  the  note,  that  I  may  know  you  are  to 
come.  Yours  truly  James." 

The  following  letter,  written  but  a  day  after  the  previous 
one,  shows  Fisk  in  better  spirits.  He  is  evidently  again 
basking  in  Josie's  smiles  : 

"November  12,  1870. 

"  Enclosed  find  the  letters.  I  was  not  aware  Miss  Jordan 
was  to  come  until  I  saw  her  pass  the  gate-keeper ;  but  that 
is  nothing  astonishing,  as  she  is  one  of  our  regular  custo- 
mers. Of  course,  I  did  not  send  her  the  box,  for  she  is  not 
in  a  mood  that  I  presume  such  civilities  would  be  received 
from  Fisk,  Jr.  I  am  glad  you  was  pleased.  I  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  you  seen  '  Le  Petit  Faust.*  At  the 
'  Duchesse '  we  used  old  clothes  and  scenery ;  while  in 
*  Faust  *  all  was  new.  We  play  *  Faust '  this  afternoon.  Shall 
I  send  you  a  box?  And  on  Monday  night  we  give  the 
world  '  our  diamond,*  '  Les  Brigands,'  all  new. 

"  Surely,  the  world  is  machinery.  Am  I  keeping  up  with 
it?  is  the  question.     Yours  truly,  James." 

The  next  letter  shows  Fisk  again  completely  in  the  toils, 
and  happy : 

"November  14,  1870. 

"  Dear  Dolly, — Do  you  really  wish  to  see  a  *  brigand 
at  your  house  to-night?     If  so,  what  hour,  or  from   what 


420  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

hour  and  how  late  shall  I  call  ?  for  I  might  be  able  to  come 
at  eight,  or,  perhaps,  not  until  ten.  Say  what  hour,  and  how 
late  is  your  limit  after  the  time  you  first  say." 

Still  in  love : 

"November  15,  1870. 

"  Enclosed  find  box  for  to-night.  Should  you  find  you 
cannot  use  it,  send  it  back  to  me  later.  Do  you  feel  as  I 
said  you  would  this  morning?  The  box,  of  course,  is  for 
whoever  you  may  invite.     Yours  ever,  James." 

Utterly  infatuated : 

"November  16,  18 — 

"Dear  Dolly,— Don't  feel  that  way.  Go  riding,  and 
to-night,  darling,  I  will  take  you  to  rest.  I  shall  go  out  at 
half-past  three,  and  you  can  safely  look  ahead,  darling,  for 
rest.     It  will  come,  and  we  shall  be  happy  again. 

"  Yours  truly,  James." 

The  last : 

"November  18,  1870. 

"  Shall  go  to  the  race  to-day,  and  this  evening  I  am  en- 
gaged until  late,  and  I  am  afraid  you  would  get  tired  wait- 
ing for  the  ring  of  the  bell  or  the  ring  of  the  door.  So  I  will 
not  ask  you  to  wait  my  coming,  unless  it  be  your  wish,  in 
which  case  I  will  come  as  early  as  I  can.     Yours,  etc. 

"Enclosed  find  the  Leidunnor  Ball. 

"  Yours  truly,  J.  F.,  Jr. 

"Monday  Morning. 

"  Not  time  to  come  up.  J.  F.  Jr." 

These  are  the  letters  of  a  man  infatuated  by  a  siren  bent 
on  leading  him  to  destruction.  They  are  not  what  a  pruri- 
ent public  expected. 

Fisk  fought  hard  to  prevent  their  publication,  and  gave 
his  enemy  $15,000  that  his  shame  might  not  be  blazoned 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  42 1 

forth  to  the  world.  It  is  evident  that  he  did  not  write  them 
— they  were  penned  by  a  better  scholar. 

For  a  loi\^  time  certain  of  Fisk's  immediate  friends  strove 
earnestly  to  induce  him  to  publish  the  letters  himself.  He 
refused. 

"  You  may  laugh  at  me,  but  I  tell  you  I  can't  put  up  on  a 
sign-board  some  of  the  purest  thoughts  that  ever  stirred  me, 
and  let  the  world  laugh  at  me.  They  may  curse  me  for  this, 
and  damn  mc  for  that,  and  ridicule  me  for  something  else — 
but,  by  the  Lord,  this  is  my  heart  that  you  want  me  to  make 
a  show  of,  and  I  won't." 

But,  a  few  weeks  before  the  publication  of  the  letters  in 
the  Herald  he  yielded  to  the  solicitation  of  his  friends,  and 
furnished  his  copies  of  the  correspondence  to  an  amanuensis 
with  orders  to  prepare  them  for  the  press.  When  this  had 
been  done  to  his  satisfaction,  he  dictated  a  letter  to  the  pub- 
lic, in  which  occurred  the  following  words : 

"  This  will  amuse  a  great  many  heartless  people,  but  I  am 
satisfied  to  let  them  laugh.  For  much  that  I  have  done,  I 
have  been  justly  blamed,  and  have  been  ridiculed  for  much 
more.  In  this  correspondence,  which  was  an  insult  to  one 
of  the  purest  women  that  ever  lived,  I  have  been  more  guilty 
than  in  anything  else.  I  have  sought  and  obtained  the  for- 
giveness of  my  wife.     Now  let  the  world  laugh." 

It  was  most  unfortunate  that  Fisk  changed  his  mind  again, 
thereby  losing  an  opportunity  to  present  himself  in  a  far  bet- 
ter light  than  the  public  had  yet  viewed  him  in. 


422  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 


CHAPTER    XL. 

For  years  past  the  management  of  the  Erie  Road  had  been 
a  scandal  in  Europe.  It  had  to  some  extent  interfered  with 
the  negotiation  abroad  of  other  American  securities,  and  had 
been  pointed  at  as  a  type  of  the  protection  foreign  creditors 
might  expect  in  this  country.  Various  attempts  had  been 
made  by  individuals  to  break  up  the  Erie  Ring,  but,  as  has 
been  already  seen,  it  was  found  that  the  Ring  absolutely 
controlled  the  judiciary  of  this  city.  The  first  real  victory 
accomplished  by  the  English  stockholders,  who  were  the  par- 
ties under  whose  sponsorship  the  last  great  movement  was 
made,  was  the  dethronement  of  Jay  Gould  from  his  position 
as  Receiver  of  the  Atlantic  and  Great  Western  Railway, 
which  was  accomplished  in  1871.  This  blow  to  Erie  was 
followed  by  the  fall  of  the  Tammany  Ring,  with  which  Erie 
had  been  so  closely  alHed.  When  Tammany  fell,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  European  interest  determined  on  another 
struggle  for  their  rights.  They  were  in  constant  communi- 
cation with  counsel  on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  the  plans 
were  partially  matured,  when  in  January,  1872,  it  became 
known  that  General  Sickles  was  coming  to  this  country  on 
leave  of  absence.  It  also  became  known  to  the  representa- 
tives of  Erie  in  London,  including  James  McHenry.  Both 
parties  saw  that  General  Sickles  possessed  in  a  great  degree 
the  political  influence  and  the  executive  ability  necessary  to 
give  efficient  aid  in  extricating  the  road  from  the  clutches 
of  the  Ring.  He  was  visited  in  London  before  leaving ;  and 
in  the  interest  of  the  stockholders,  as  well  as  of  the  American 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  423 

people,  he  aj^reed  to  do  what  he  was  able  to  aid  in  the  res- 
toration of  the  Company  to  its  proper  owners,  and  to  bring 
about  the  election  of  an  entirely  new  Board  of  officers.  He 
did  this  from  no  selfish  motives,  but  purely  in  the  interest  of 
his  country.  As  our  representative  at  a  foreign  court,  he 
had  ample  opportunities  to  see  how  much  our  credit  was 
damaged  by  the  frauds  of  Erie,  and  he  undertook  to  remedy 
the  evil  so  far  as  in  his  power. 

On  General  Sickles's  arrival  in  New  York,  the  plans  were 
matured.  It  was  known  that  many  of  the  Directors  were 
beginning  to  waver  in  their  allegiance  to  Jay  Gould,  espe- 
cially since  the  death  of  Fisk,  and  this  was  the  rock  upon 
which  it  was  determined  to  break  the  entire  Erie  ma- 
chine. Such  Directors  as  were  known  to  be  hostile  to  the 
administration,  were  approached,  and  the  plans  boldly  laid 
before  them.  They  entered  into  the  scheme  heartily.  Then 
the  more  doubtful  ones  were  cautiously  sounded,  and  one  by 
one  added  to  the  list  of  malcontents.  A  diplomatist  backed 
by  lawyers  is  irresistible  in  some  things,  and  in  less  than  a 
month  enough  had  been  gained  over  to  render  the  success 
of  the  scheme  certain. 

On  Friday  evening,  March  8,  a  meeting  was  held,  at  which 
it  was  determined  to  begin  active  operations.  Gens.  Dix 
and  McClellan  were  then  first  informed  of  what  was  to  take 
place,  and  asked  to  accept  positions  in  the  Board.  They 
consented.  Gen.  Dix  also  consented  at  that  time  to  take 
Jay  Gould's  place  as  President  of  the  Board.  The  entire 
complexion  of  the  new  Board  was  decided  on,  and  the  gen- 
tlemen to  be  elected  were  told  to  be  present  at  the  meeting 
when  called.  The  next  day,  Saturday,  Jay  Gould  was 
asked  to  call  a  meeting.  He  telegraphed  from  his  down- 
town  office   that   he  did    not   see   the   necessity  of  calling 


424  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

a  meeting.     This  had  been  foreseen,  so   that  no   time  was 
lost. 

On  Saturday,  ^iarch  9,  Mr.  Gould  being  in  Albany,  Vice- 
President  Archer  called  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors for  Monday,  March  11.  At  11  o'clock  A.  M.  of  that  day 
the  great  movement  began  to  take  visible  shape  in  the  splen- 
did hall  of  the  Erie  offices.  As  noon  approached  there  were 
more  signs  of  life.  At  that  hour  several  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  had  made  their  appearance.  At  12  o'clock  Mr. 
Lane  v\ralked  to  the  head  of  the  staircase  leading  to  the  ves- 
tibule. By  that  time  it  began  to  leak  out  that  a  startling 
change  in  the  management  of  Erie  was  imminent.  Flying 
rumors  said  that  the  Board  contained  but  fifteen  members, 
while  it  should  be  composed  of  seventeen.  More  rumors 
said  that  Mr.  Lane  was  the  prime  conspirator  in  a  new  move- 
ment which  was  to  sweep  away  Jay  Gould  and  several  others 
of  the  Board,  and  place  the  road  under  a  new  authority. 

Soon  after  12  o'clock,  Gen.  Dix  appeared  on  the  staircase. 
The  tough  old  soldier  was  accompanied  by  a  younger  sol- 
dier, Gen.  McClellan.  This  certainly  looked  like,  war,  when 
two  distinguished  generals  led  the  army  which  swarmed 
over  the  ramparts  of  Erie.  Mr.  Lane  met  them  on  the  land- 
ing, and  escorted  them  to  the  Directors'  room.  While  Lane 
had  been  waiting  outside,  Mr.  Shearman,  the  attorney  for 
the  road,  had  visited  those  Directors  who  had  assembled  in- 
side. He  flourished  an  injunction  and  declared  the  meeting 
illegal.  The  injunction  was  not  good.  It  was  instantly 
taken  from  Mr.  Shearman's  hands,  and  thrown  upon  the  floor. 
Shearman  was  backed  out  of  the  room,  which  Jay  Gould 
had  not  entered.  Those  there  were  Judge  Hilton,  Capt.  M, 
R.  Simons,  Messrs.  Hall,  Thompson,  Otis,  Archer,  Ramsdell 
and  White. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  423 

Mr.  Lane  entered  with  Gens.  Dix  and  McClellan.  The 
room  was  ordered  cleared,  and  balloting  for  the  new  direc- 
tors was  begun.  Gens.  Dix  and  McClellan  were  voted  in. 
This  made  the  required  number.  Then  some  of  the  disaf- 
fected directors,  men  who  were  against  Gould,  sent  in  their 
resiernations.  Then  more  men  came  in.  There  were  Sam. 
L.  M.  Barlow,  William  R.  Travers,  II.  G.  Stcbbins,  Charles 
Day,  W.  W.  Sherman,  and  Gen.  Dcvins  of  Elmira.  They 
passed  into  the  directors'  room.  They  were  all  elected 
members  of  the  Board. 

At  this  juncture  Attorney  Shearman  again  made  his  ap- 
pearance, this  time  backed  by  forty  policemen.  The  heavy 
folding  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  in  they  marched. 
Bedlam  broke  loose  in  an  instant.  All  hands  jumped  to 
their  feet,  and  howled  with  mingled  rage  and  fury.  Wild 
gesticulations  were  emphasized  with  angry  words. 

"  Shearman,  what  do  you  want  here  ?  Get  out !  You 
don't  belong  here  !" 

"  It  is  the  custom,"  shouted  Shearman,  "  for  counsel  to  be 
present  at  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Directors." 

"  Can't  help  it !     Get  out !" 

Shearman  stayed  in  and  ordered  the  room  cleared.  The 
policemen  did  not  move,  nor  did  the  directors. 

"  By  what  authority  do  you  enter  here?"  cried  one. 

"By  the  authority  of  Jay  Gould,"  said  Shearman. 

"  That  won't  do,"  said  Mr.  Barlow.  "  Jay  Gould  is  no 
longer  an  officer  of  this  road." 

The  police  were  quiescent.  "  By  whose  orders  do  you 
come  here  ?"  said  Barlow. 

"  Jay  Gould's,"  said  the  Captain. 

"  Not  good,"  said  Barlow.  "  If  you  are  acting  for  the 
Erie  Company  you  must  take  your  orders  from  Gen.  Dix." 


426  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

Mr.  Shearman  endeavored  to  have  the  room  cleared,  while 
men  shouted  and  swung  their  fists,  and  there  was  imminent 
danger  of  blows.  Shearman  shouted  something  which  could 
not  be  distinctly  heard  above  the  uproar,  but  it  sounded 
like: 

"  I  am  willing  for  all  the  Erie  directors  to  resign place 

resignations  in  hands  of  Horace  Greeley protest " 

Shouts  of  laughter  temporarily  took  the  place  of  angry  al- 
tercation. 

"  Oh,  for  one  hour  of  Jim  Fisk!  "  shouted  a  man  outside. 
"  He'd  hav^e  a  thousand  men  here  if  need  be,  and  he'd  sweep 
the  room  like  a  deluge  !" 

But  the  impetuous  Fisk  was  not  there.  His  fertile  brain 
and  dashing  action  were  invoked  in  vain,  and  Mr.  Shearman 
and  the  police  were  obliged  to  retire  before  the  tempest. 

Mr.  Barlow  offered  a  resolution  that  Mr.  Jay  Gould  be 
dispensed  with  as  President  of  the  road.  Carried.  Then 
Mr.  Barlow  moved  that  the  Board  proceed  to  ballot  for  a 
President.  Carried,  and  Gen.  Dix  was  elected.  Mr.  Ar- 
cher was  re-elected  Vice-President.  Then  Messrs.  Field 
and  Shearman  were  voted  out  of  their  positions  as  attorneys 
for  the  road,  and  Mr.  Barlow  was  voted  in,  and  Mr.  Sher- 
man was  elected  Treasurer.  Then  orders  were  telegraphed 
all  along  the  Erie  road  to  take  orders  from  no  one  but  Ar- 
cher or  Dix,  and  the  new  Board  rested  on  its  laurels. 

During  all  that  night  the  Erie  offices  were  in  a  state  of 
siege.  Jay  Gould  and  a  gang  of  roughs  whom  he  had  swqrn 
in  as  special  officers,  by  virtue  of  a  long-forgotten  act  of  the 
Legislature,  retained  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  Erie  of- 
fice. The  reformers  held  the  remainder  of  the  field.  Gould 
protested  Avithout  avail. 

On  Tuesday  the  Opera  House  was  the  scene  of  constant 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  427 

excitement.     The  new  Board  was  in  session  in  the  Directors 
room,  and  Jay  Gould  had  locked  himself  in  his  office. 

At  two  o'clock,  General  Sickles  went  into  the  room  where 
Messrs.  Field  and  Shearman  were,  and  was  conducted  into 
Mr.  Gould's  room.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  came  back, 
this  time  followed  by  Mr.  Gould.  Mr.  Gould  had  not  been 
seen  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 

"  It 's  a  treaty  for  peace,"  said  a  few,  while  others  conjec- 
tured that  it  was  a  final  notification  to  Mr.  Gould  to  leave 
the  premises. 

After  a  half-hour's  waiting,  ]Mr.  Gould  appeared,  in  com- 
pany with  INIr.  Shearman  and  General  Sickles,  and  entered 
the  Directors'  room.  Instantly  the  news  was  communicated 
to  all  portions  of  the  building,  and  an  immense  assemblage 
blocked  up  the  vestibule. 

"  Thank  God  !  "  cried  the  police  ;  "  this  looks  like  a  com- 
promise.    Now,  we  '11  get  out  of  this." 

The  crowd  clamored  for  admission  to  the  Comptroller's 
room,  and  it  was  a  difficult  task  for  the  police  to  prevent 
them  from  making  a  forcible  entrance. 

Mr.  Gould  was  very  pale,  and  looked  hardly  able  to  walk. 
He  and  the  General  went  into  the  Directors'  room. 

From  what  followed,  it  would  seem  that  the  new  Board 
had  decided  to  acknowledge  Mr.  Gould's  authority,  and  to 
take  such  action,  this  time,  as  would  be  undoubtedly  legal. 
What  took  place  was  in  pursuance  of  a  compromise  which 
General  Sickles  had  effected  at  the  time  of  the  conference  in 
Gould's  room. 

Around  the  long  table  in  the  Directors'  room  sat  all  the 
members  of  the  old  Board.  Mr.  Gould,  with  trembling 
steps — he  seemed  very  much  agitated — took  the  President's 
chair,  and  said : 


428  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"  Gentlemen,  I  call  this  meeting  to  order." 

In  an  instant  one  could  have  heard  a  pin  drop.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  repetition  of  Monday's  meeting.  One  by  one  the 
Directors  rose  and  tendered  their  resignations.  As  soon  as 
one  of  the  old  Directors  had  resigned,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  new  Board  came  in  from  the  dining-room  and  took  his 
seat.  When  all  the  new  Directors  had  taken  their  seats,  Jay 
Gould  rose  and  said,  in  rather  a  tremulous  voice : 

"Gentlemen,  I  herewith  resign  the  office  of  President  of 
the  Erie  Railroad  Company." 

This  announcement  was  the  first  receiv^ed  with  silence. 
Then  the  resignation  was  accepted.  General  Dix  was  pro- 
posed to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  unanimously  elected.  General 
Dix  came  out  of  the  dining-room  and  took  the  chair.  Messrs. 
Lansing,  Diven,  and  Archer  were  appointed  an  Auditing 
Committee.  The  new  members  all  shook  hands  with  Mr. 
Gould,  and  said  they  were  glad  to  see  everything  settled  in 
so  satisfactory  a  manner.  Then,  previous  to  taking  a  recess 
of  half  an  hour,  the  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the 
new  Board : 

''Resolved,  That  public  notice  be  given  that  it  is  the  inten- 
tion of  this  Board  that  the  bona  fide  stockholders  of  this  Com- 
pany shall,  at  all  times  hereafter,  have  and  be  allowed  to 
exercise  their  full  and  absolute  right  to  control  the  direction 
of  this  Company,  and  that  this  Board  will  do  all  in  its 
power  to  bring  about  such  a  speedy  election  as  shall  secure 
this  result;  and,  in  view  of  this  determination,  it  is  further 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Board  does  heartily  approve  of  the 
principles  embodied  in  the  Act  recently  reported  to  the 
Senate  and  Assembly  of  this  State,  for  the  repeal  of  the  so- 
called  Classification  Act,  and  for  other  purposes,  and  that 
Messrs.  Porter  and  McFarland,  two  of  the  counsel  of  this 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  429 

Board,  be  requested  to  proceed  to  Albany  to  urge  the  pass- 
age of  the  Act. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  resohition  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
passed  last  year,  by  which  Mr.  Gould  was  authorized  to 
issue  $22,000,000  of  convertible  bonds,  under  which  authority 
no  action  has  been  taken  by  Mr.  Gould,  shall  be  and  hereby  is 
rescinded  by  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  the  Stock  Exchange 
is  notified  of  this  decision. 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  stock  transfer  books  are  ordered  to  be 
closed  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Directors." 

The  newly  organized  Directory  is  understood  to  be  pro- 
visional only,  and  the  members  lately  introduced  lay  great 
stress  upon  this  point.  Many  of  them  were  elected  at  a 
moment's  notice,  and  accepted  only  on  the  understanding  that 
an  election  by  the  stockholders  was  to  follow  as  soon  as  the 
necessary  legislation  could  be  secured.  The  Provisional  Ad- 
ministration, as  this  chapter  goes  to  press,  is  as  follows : 

President — John  A.  Dix  ;  Vice-President — O.  H.  P.  Archer  ; 
Treasurer — W.  W.  Sherman;  Asst. -Treasurer  —  Justin  D. 
White  ;  Superi7itendent — Lewis  D.  Rucker  ;  Directors — John 
A.  Dix,  O.  H.  P.  Archer,  Jay  Gould,  W.  W.  Sherman,  J.  D. 
White,  George  B.  McClellan,  Geo.  C.  Hall,  F.  N.  Drake,  H. 
G.  Stebbins,  W.  R.  Travers,  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  Charles  Day, 
Homer  Ramsdell,  Edwin  Eldridge,  A.  S.  Diven,  Gen.  Lan- 
sing, F.  N.  Drake. 

Mr.  John  Hilton  entered  the  service  of  the  road  in  1836,  as 
Engineer.  Since  then  he  has  filled  the  positions  of  Auditor 
and  Treasurer.  Soon  after  the  present  administration  came 
into  power  he  tendered  his  resignation  as  Auditor  of  the 
Company,  and  retired  for  three  years,  resuming  his  connec- 
tion again  five  or  six  months  ago,  and  remaining  a  Director 
during  the  interval. 


430  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Mr.  Simons  has  been  for  twenty  years  in  the  management 
of  the  Narragansett  Steamship  Company. 

Mr.  Otis  became  connected  with  the  Company  in  1845, 
and  was  the  transfer  clerk  when  the  road  was  resuscitated 
and  opened  in  1852.  In  1859  ^^  ^^as  elected  Secretary  of  the 
old  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  Co.  When  the  road  went 
into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  new  Company — a  position  he  has  ever  since  held.  He 
claims  he  has  retained  that  position  through  advice  of  coun- 
sel, who  had  opposed  his  desire  to  resign. 

George  C.  Hall  was  elected  to  the  Board  in  1869.  His 
election  was  effected,  he  says,  without  consultation  with 
him  at  all,  and  he  knew  nothing  of  it  until  he  saw  it  in  the 
papers.  He  says  he  is  anxious  to  have  his  record  examined, 
and  to  that  end  was  ready  and  glad  to  resign.  He  found 
that  getting  out  was  a  much  more  difficult  thing  to  manage 
than  to  get  in.  Twice  he  resigned  on  account  of  the  odium 
which  attached  to  any  one  having  anything  to  do  with  the 
Board,  and  twice  his  resignation  was  sent  back,  and  by  ad- 
vice of  counsel  he  determined,  he  says,  to  remain  until  he 
could  obtain  justice  for  the  corporation  and  for  himself.  He 
claims  he  has  opposed  Gould  throughout,  and  has  been  the 
means  of  defeating  some  of  the  Ring  schemes. 

Henry  Thompson,  a  relative  of  President  Eldridge  of  the 
Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie  Road,  also  claims  credit  for  hav- 
ing stood  out  firmly  against  Gould,  and  he  hailed  the  pre- 
sent moment  gladly  as  an  opportunity  to  show  what  he  says 
is  a  "  clear  record  in  all  things." 

Homer  Ramsdell  originally  entered  the  directory  of  the 
road  in  1844,  and  was  elected  President  in  1853,  serving  in 
such  capacity  four  years.  In  1857  he  went  out  of  office,  but 
was  reelected  in  1867,  and  has  been  a  director  ever  since. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  43 1 

He  says  his  contracts  with  Eric  are  as  profitable  to  the  road 
as  to  himself,  and  courts  investigation  of  the  terms  and  his 
transactions. 

Mr.  Archer,  the  present  Vice-President,  came  into  the 
service  of  the  Company  a  rich  man,  and  says  he  only  went 
into  the  Board  with  the  idea  of  assisting  by  his  credit  and 
the  money  he  should  raise,  to  put  the  road  on  a  proper  basis. 
A  number  of  times  he  has  come  into  direct  collision  with 
Mr.  Gould,  in  regard  to  the  schemes  of  the  latter,  when  he 
has  told  him  that  he  could  not  consent  to  such  action  as 
Gould  proposed,  and  should  oppose  him,  or  any  other  mem- 
ber of  the  Board,  who  did  anything  contrary  to  the  interests 
of  the  road.  Gould  made  several  attempts  to  get  rid  of 
him,  but  all  ultimately  failed.  Not  long  ago,  when  Gould 
attempted  to  get  control  of  Mrs.  Fisk's  stock  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  Steamship  Co.,  by  trumping  up  a  false  claim  and 
threatening  to  attach  the  estate,  it  is  claimed  that  Archer 
went  to  Gould,  and  informed  him  plainly  that  he  should 
protect  Mrs.  Fisk's  interests  in  the  matter.  If  Mr.  Gould 
attached  the  stock,  he  would  have  him  arrested.  It  appears, 
to  state  the  scandalous  story  in  detail,  that  in  the  settlement 
of  Col.  Fisk's  estate,  it  became  necessary  to  dispose  of  vari- 
ous stocks,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  sell  them  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage. In  one  instance  (the  Elmira  Rolling  Mill  Com- 
pany), upon  several  offers  the  stock  was  disposed  of  at  par  ; 
but  in  other  cases,  buyers  who  stood  ready  to  purchase  cer- 
tain stocks  at  favorable  rates,  were  deterred  from  so  doing 
on  an  intimation  from  Jay  Gould,  that  such  purchase  would 
be  disagreeable  to  him. 

A  newspaper  report  claimed  that  the  Hon.  Horace  Gree- 
ley was  quite  active  in  bringing  back  the  change  in  the  man- 
agement.    As  the  story  ran,  Mr.  Greeley  was  approached  by 


432  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

one  of  the  heaviest  of  the  English  stockholders,  who  sought 
his  assistance.  About  two  weeks  before  the  final  overthrow, 
Mr.  Greeley  conferred  with  Mr.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  road,  at  Philadelphia.  The 
result  was  that  the  two  gentlemen  came  to  New  York,  where 
they  met  Mr.  Gould  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  'Mr.  Gould 
then  offered  to  place  his  resignation  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Gree- 
ley. This  was  on  March  ii,  1872.  It  was,  doubtless,  at  this 
conference,  that  Mr.  Gould  formed  the  determination  which 
he  carried  into  effect  as  stated  above.* 

As  this  chapter  is  brought  to  a  close,  it  is  understood  that 
the  Classification  Bill  has  been  repealed  at  Albany. 

Jay  Gould  resigned  his  position  as  Director  of  Erie  three 
days  after  throwing  up  the  Presidency,  and  on  the  i8th  of 
March,  1872,  Erie  stock  was  quoted  at  47^. 

•This  report  Mr.  Greeley  most  emphatically  denies. 


JAJ    GOULD   AVEErDJG   BESIDE    TUE    COFFIN. 


ANECDOTES 

OF 

COL.  JAMES  FISK,  Jr., 

MISCELLANEOUS  INCIDENTS  IN  HIS  LIFE, 


TOGETHER   WITH 


BIOGRAPmCAL  SKETCHES  OF  CORNELIUS  VANDERBILT,  DANIEL  DREW, 

EDWARD  S.  STOKES,  JAY  GOULD,  WM.  M.  TWEED, 

AND  HELEN  JOSEPHINE  MANSFIELD. 


"  On  Saturday  (the  day  following  Black  Friday)  there  ran 
through  the  town  a  wild  rumor  of  a  fresh  atrocity,  a  rumor 
coming  no  one  knew  whence,  but  established  in  the  mouths 
of  a  thousand  self-constituted  witnesses.  It  declared  that 
James  Fisk,  stock-gambler,  had  been  shot  in  the  street  by 
John  Morrissey,  ex-prize-fighter,  proprietor  of  faro  banks, 
and  member  of  Congress.  It  declared  furthermore  that  Fisk 
had  cheated  Morrissey  out  of  large  sums  of  money  in  the 
late  gold  excitement,  that  Morrissey  had  threatened  to  pun- 
ish him  publicly  unless  he  made  restitution,  and  that  the  kill- 
ins-  was  as  deliberate  as  the  threat  of  public  chastisement 
had  been.  Two  hours  later  the  whole  story  proved  a  ca- 
nard, hatched  probably  by  some  unscrupulous  reporter. 

"  But  this  tale  had  a  moral.  Commonly  a  murderer  so 
shocks  the  moral  sense  of  the  community,  h\'  the  cowardice 
and  malignity  of  his  act,  that  public  sentiment  is  disposed  to 

25  (435) 


43^  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

defend,  if  not  to  vindicate,  the  victim  so  brutally  deprived 
of  the  opportunity  of  self-defense.  Yet  when  this  report  was 
at  its  strongest,  the  business  world  received  it  v/ith  a  mild 
acquiescence  in  the  fitness  of  the  agent  to  his  horrible  work, 
if  not  with  positive  and  expressed  satisfaction.  Nobody 
seemed  horror-stricken,  nobody  cried  out  for  retaliation  in 
blood.  No  doubt  this  apathy  or  carelessness  was  due  in  part 
to  the  convocation  of  horrors  which  has  so  sickened,  dis- 
gusted, or  appalled  the  community,  one  treading  upon 
another's  heels,  so  fast  they  followed.  But  an  explanation 
beyond  this  lies  in  the  feeling  of  the  public  that  James  Fisk 
is  a  man  whose  hand  is  against  every  man's — in  the  feeling 
of  the  public  that  a  man  who  made  sport  of  common  hon- 
esty, of  truth,  of  decency,  in  his  own  life  and  in  his  dealings 
with  men,  living  literally  an  outlaw,  in  some  sort  satisfied 
the  claims  of  society  upon  him  in  dying  the  death  of  an  out- 
law. It  is  a  test  of  the  hollowness  of  the  '  success '  which 
this  man  had  achieved,  that  nobody  cared  for  him  living,  and 
nobody  mourned  him  dead.  It  is  a  most  startling  commen- 
tary on  the  recklessness  of  public  sentiment  and  the  mockery 
of  justice  which  pervade  the  time,  that  his  ovv^n  world  was 
neither  shocked  nor  surprised." — Tribune. 

"  He  has  a  great  many  warm  enemies,  and  scores  of  ear- 
nest friends.  He  is  generous,  social,  and  warm-hearted,  and 
has  a  sort  of  winning  way  in  his  general  deportment  which 
it  is  impossible  to  describe,  and  almost  impossible  to  resist. 

He  is,  or  has  been  intimate  with  men  of  all  classes, 

from  the  President  of  the  United  States  down ;  and  what  is 
more  remarkable,  his  acquaintance  is  sought  by  the  very 
men  who  denounce  him.  His  future  career  will  be  watched 
with    great   int^i'cst  by   the  whole   American    people,  and 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  437 

whether  his  life  is  spared  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  he 
can  make  his  exit  with  the  proud  satisfaction  that  he  once 
made  considerable  stir  in  it." — Herald,  Nov.  7,  1869. 

"  While  I  am  writing,  let  me  say  something  about  another 
man  mentioned  in  the  same  number  of  the  Tribune.^  Mr. 
James  Fisk,  Jr.  In  commenting  on  the  report  that  he  had 
been  shot,  you  speak  of  him  as  a  man  whose  hand  is  against 
every  man's,  one  whom  nobody  ever  cared  for  living,  or 
mourned  when  he  was  supposed  to  be  dead.  Now,  I  do  not 
know  Mr.  Fisk,  never  held  any  communication  with  him, 
never  even  saw  him.  Of  the  nature  or  justifiability  of  his 
operations,  I  can  say  nothing,  because  I  know  nothing.  But 
I  was  sorry  to  see  these  remarks,  because  I  do  know  of  at 
least  one  person  whom  he  cared  for,  "and  who  should  re- 
member him,  living  or  dead.  In  the  hight  of  the  gold  panic, 
when  it  might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  any  man  who 
was  but  moderately  interested  in  the  issue  would  be  entirely 
and  nervously  absorbed  in  his  own  affairs,  Mr.  Fisk  found 
time  and  had  the  nerve  and  the  inclination  to  write  a' letter 
to  a  friend  of  mine  for  the  sole  purpose  of  serving  a  woman 
• — a  woman  old  and  poor.  The  fact  impressed  me  when  I 
learned  it  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  and  I  refer  to  it  now, 
because  it  seems  to  me  that  a  man  who  under  such  circum- 
stances could  do  such  an  act,  cannot  be  quite  the  Ishmael  of 
his  kind,  or  quite  deserve  to  be  held  up  as  one  whom  no  one 
should  care  for  living,  or  will  mourn  when  dead. 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  R.  G.  W." 

—  Tribune,  Nezu  York,  Jan.  25,  1870. 

This  grateful  and  chivalric  letter  of  the  ceiebratccl  Shak- 
spearian  scholar,  Richard  Grant  White,  was  widely  copied. 


438  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

The  Evening  Mail  said,  in  referring  to  it,  *'  It  required  no 
courage  to  say  a  good  word  in  behalf  of  a  great  public  bene- 
factor,- whose  magnificent  gifts  to  the  public  are  now  justly 
praised  on  all  sides ;  but  as  to  Mr.  Fisk,  the  undertaking  of 
his  defense  was  a  different  matter,  and  we  respect  Mr.  White 
for  the  sense  of  justice  which  led  him  to  write  the  follow- 
ing " — (the  extract  above  quoted.) 

"  I  tell  you  he  was  one  of  the  warmest-hearted  men  in 
this  big  city ;  as  I  will  prove  by  relating  a  little  incident 
of  his  way  of  doing  things,"  said  one  of  the  Colonel's 
friends : 

"  A  short  time  ago  a  prominent  New  Yorker,  whose  avail- 
able means  were  tied  up,  discovered  on  a  Saturday  night 
that  unless  he  could  raise  $81,000  by  Monda}^  morning,  he 
would  become  hopelessly  bankrupt.  JTe  made  the  matter 
known  to  a  few  personal  friends,  who  at  once  resolved  to 
obtain  the  money  for  him,  if  possible.  They  held  a  meeting 
and  adopted  the  plan  of  trying  to  get  enough  men  to  ad- 
vance $5,000  each  to  raise  the  amount  required.  The  case 
was  stated  to  Fisk,  and  although  he  was  not  under  the  slight- 
est obligation  to  the  embarrassed  merchant,  he  said, 

"■  '  Gentlemen,  you  can  put  me  down  for  $10,000.' 

"  After  some  difficulty  they  succeeded  in  raising  $51,000, 
still  finding  themselves  $30,000  short. 

"  They  again  called  on  the  Colonel,  and  mentioned  their 
dilemma,  at  the  same  time  saying  that  they  would  deposit 
deeds  of  land  as  security  for  630,000  more. 

"  •  All  right,  gentlemen,  here  is  the  aqiount,'  replied  the 
Colonel,  handing  them  a  check. 

*  Mr.  Robert  Lenox,  who  had  presented  his  large  and  valuable  private  library 
to  the  City  of  New  York,  and  to  whom  Mr.  White  had  referred  in  the  letter. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  439 

"'You  had  better  examine  the  deeds,  Colonel,  to  see 
if  the  land  is  worth  the  money,'  suggested  a  prudent 
friend. 

" '  I  don't  care  whether  the  land  is  fit  to  raise  cauliflowers 
or  cranberries,  the  man  is  in  a  tight  place,  and  must  have 
the  money,'  remarked  Prince  Eric,  as  he  shoved  the  deeds 
aside.  W.  Y." 

"  When  I  was  completing  my  classical  education  at  Brat- 
tleboro',"  said  Fisk,  "  there  came  along  one  of  these  travelin' 
curiosities — a  kind  of  a  cross  between  a  parson  and  a  pla3-ed- 
out  schoolmaster.  Well,  he  poked  into  the  school-room  and 
got  to  talkin'  with  the  teacher.  He  was  a  slab-sided  individual, 
and  walked  something  about  like  old  Greeley,  but  he  hadn't 
half  as  lovely  a  profile,  and  he  lacked  Horace's  sweetly  inno- 
cent expression  of  countenance,  and  Horace's  taste  in  dress. 
It  was  n't  long  before  the  stranger  rose  up  and  straightened 
the  tails  of  his  coat,  and  pulled  up  his  shirt  collar — about  as 
dirty  a  collar  as  you  ever  see.  He  cleared  his  throat,  and 
begun  to  air  his  eloquence.  I  don't  remember  now  what  he 
talked  about,  but  I  have  a  lively  recollection  of  the  fact  that 
me  and  the  boys  had  an  idee  that  the  speaker,  with  a  little 
more  education  and  better  raiment,  might  some  time  or  other 
make  a  tolerable  circus  clown.  Well,  now,  we  laughed  every 
once  in  a  while,  and  the  man  got  pesky  wroth.  He  stopped 
short  in  the  middle  of  his  sermon,  and,  says  he,  '  Now,  boys, 
I  want  you  should  keep  so  quiet  till  I  git  through  thet  you 
could  hear  a  feather  fall.' 

"  '  Let  her  fall!'  said  I.  The  whole  school  roared,  and  the 
man  could  n't  finish  his  talk ;  so  after  a  spell  he  left.  I  ketched 
the  worst  thrashing  that  afternoon  that  ever  helped  to  make 
me  virtuous,  and  I've  had  a  good  man}-,  too." 


440  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

On  the  night  before  the  November  election  of  1871,  Colo- 
nel Fisk  was  in  his  private  box  at  the  Grand  Opera  House, 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  friends,  among  wdiom  was  Jay- 
Gould.  The  Governor  of  the  State  had  that  day  ordered 
the  Ninth,  and  another  regiment  cf  the  National  Guard, 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  aid  in  preserving  the 
peace  of  the  city  on  the  morrow.  The  President  had  al- 
ready ordered  troops  to  Governor's  Island,  under  the  appre- 
hension that  a  terrible  riot  on  election  day  was  imminent ; 
and  it  was  feared  by  many  good  citizens  that  there  might  be 
a  difficulty  between  the  United  States  troops  and  the  militia, 
arising  out  of  the  supposed  disagreement  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  Governor  Floffman,  involving  a  conflict  of  authority ; 
the  opinion  being  that  in  the  event  of  a  rising  of  the  disor- 
derly element,  and  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  government 
force  to  suppress  the  riot,  the  State  troops  would  side  with 
the  people,  in  which  case  the  streets  of  New  York  would  be 
the  theatre  of  a  bloody  battle. 

The  Colonel  and  his  friends  were  listening  to  the  music  of 
the  Grand  Opera  House  Orchestra,  when  a  messenger  en- 
tered the  box  and  handed  a  telegraphic  dispatch  to  Mi\ 
Gould. 

"  I  say,  Colonel !"  said  Gould,  excitedl}^  as  he  rose  hastily 
from  his  chair  and  passed  the  dispatch  to  Fisk,  "  this  con- 
cerns you.     Read  it." 

The  Colonel  glanced  at  the  paper  and  turned  pale. 

It  was  a  dispatch  purporting  to  come  from  Amos  J.  Cum- 
mings  of  the  Siin,  and  was  thus  worded  : 

"Have  just  learned  that  Grant  has  ordered  the  officer  iu 
command  of  the  regulars,  that  in  the  event  of  any  trouble 
between  the  people  and  the  military  to-morrow,  he  shall  see 
that  Jim  Fisk  is  shot  by  the  troops." 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  44 1 

The  Colonel  sent  for  his  staff.  Colonel  Braine,  Major 
Hitchcock,  Adjutant  Allien,  Surgeon  Pollard,  and  other  offi- 
cers of  the  Ninth,  were  soon  at  his  side.  Thc}^  all  ndvised 
him  not  to  appear  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  on  the  next 
day. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Fisk,  "  I  don't  know  what  in  thunder 
this  thing  means;  but  I  will  let  you  and  Grant  and  every- 
body else  know  that  Jim  Fisk  is  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninth, 
and  that  he  commands  it  to-morrow  unless  there  should  be 
something  the  matter  with  his  old  tin  oven." 

He  kept  his  word,  and  appeared  at  the  head  of  his  regi- 
ment. Fortunately  there  was  no  riot ;  and  even  had  there 
been  one,  Colonel  Fisk's  life  would  have  been  in  nowise  im- 
perilled by  the  regulars — for  the  Cummings  dispatch  was 
one  of  Jay  Gould's  tricks,  over  which  he  enjoj'ed  many  a 
ventriloquial  chuckle  afterward. 

During  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1869,  the  various 
charges  of  bribery .  and  corruption  that  had  been  made 
against  members  were  considered.  Accusations  of  this  kind 
had  appeared  frequently  in  the  public  prints  during  the  pre- 
ceding year,  in  connection  with  the  passage  of  the  "  Erie 
Bill,"  and  a  resolution  was  passed  providing  for  a  committee 
to  make  investigations,  and  ascertain  "  whether  an}-  party  or 
parties  interested  in  supporting  or  opposing  an}'  measures 
relating  to  railway  companies  have,  either  in  person,  or  by 
agent,  directly  or  indirectly,  paid  or  offered  to  pay  any  mem- 
ber or  members  of  the  Senate,  during  that  session,  any 
money  or  other  valuable  thing,  to  influence  their  vote  or 
action  in  Senate  or  committee." 

By  a  subsequent  resolution,  this  committee  vras  authorized 
to  sit  during  the  recess  and  report  at  the  next  session.     They 


442  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

entered  into  an  extended  investigation  occupying  several 
months,  and  examined  as  witnesses  parties  interested  upon 
both  sides  in  the  alleged  corrupt  legislation,  members  of  the 
lobby,  and  the  editors  of  the  papers  in  which  the  original 
charges  appeared.  Their  report  was  made  on  the  nth  of 
March,  1869,  and  the  conclusions  at  which  they  arrived  were 
thus  summarily  stated : 

"  I.  Large  sums  of  money  were  expended  for  corrupt  pur- 
poses by  parties  interested  in  legislation  concerning  railroads 
durinof  the  session  of  1868. 

"  2.  Lobbjnsts  were  thus  enriched,  and  in  some  cases  re- 
ceived money  on  the  false  pretence  that  the  votes  of  the 
senators  were  to  be  thereby  influenced. 

"  3.  There  is  no  proof  of  actual  bribery  of  any  senator. 

"  4.  The  newspaper  charges  made  in  the  instances  that 
were  brought  to  the  notice  of  your  committee  were  founded 
upon  rumor  alone,  and  have  in  no  case  been  sustained  by 
the  evidence  of  the  writers  or  other  proof" 

They  expressed  their  opinion,  however,  that  under  the  law 
as  it  then  existed,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  prove  the 
crime  of  bribery,  because  both  parties  to  the  transaction 
were  liable  to  punishment. 

"  True,"  the  committee  said,  "  the  testimony  given  by  one 
on  the  trial  of  another  cannot  be  used  against  the  person  tes- 
tifying. But  the  witness  well  knows  that  such  testimony 
necessarily  gives  the  clue  to  evidence  by  which  he  himself 
can  be  convicted  and  punished.  The  result  is  either  a  refu- 
sal to  testify,  or  remarkable  forgetfulness,  or  something 
worse." 

A  bill  had  already  been  introduced  by  the  chairman  of  the 
committee,  Mr.  M.  Hale,  "  for  the  more  effectual  suppression 
and  punishment  of  bribery,"  which  embodied  suitable  pro- 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  443 

visions,  and  also  made  it  an  indictable  offense  for  an)'  officer  of 
a  company  or  corporation  to  use  the  money  of  such  company 
or  corporation  for  purposes  of  corruption.  This  act  subse- 
quently passed  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  and  received 
the  approval  of  the  Governor. 

In  May,  1869,  the  society  for  the  Advancement  of  Women's 
Rights  held  a  convention  in  New  York  City.  Miss  Susan 
B.  Anthony  wished  to  secure  from  the  Erie  Railway  passes 
at  half  fare  for  delegates  from  the  West  coming  to  New  York 
over  the  Erie  road.  She  visited  the  offices  of  the  Company, 
which  v/ere  then  located  in  the  old  building  at  the  foot  of 
Duane  street ;  a  very  different  place  from  the  magnificent 
structure  at  Eighth  avenue  and  Twenty-third  street  which 
now  contains  the  offices  of  the  Company.  Reaching  the 
office.  Miss  Anthony  saw  two  men ;  one  had  snapping  black 
eyes,  and  coal-black  moustache  and  beard  ;  while  the  other 
was  of  florid  complexion,  his  eyes  blue,  and  hair  and  mous- 
tache curly  auburn.  Miss  Anthony  drew  a  copy  of  the 
Revolution  from  her  pocket,  and  approached  the  dark-com- 
plexioned gentleman. 

"  Is  this  Mr.  Jay  Gould  ?"  she  asked. 

The  gentleman  nodded  assent,  while  the  lady  laid  the 
copy  of  the  Revolution  on  his  desk,  and  stated  her  business. 
She  enlarged  upon  the  ennobling  influence  which  the  advance- 
ment of  the  cause  she  represented  would  have  upon  society  ; 
and  closed  by  assuring  Mr.  Gould  that  she  knew  him  to 
be  the  friend  of  every  movement  tending  to  purify  and  ele- 
vate humanity.  Then  she  asked  for  reduced  rates  of  fare  to 
those  attending  the  Convention. 

The  gentleman  of  the  auburn  locks  stopped  his  writing, 
and  looked  as  if  he  had  heard  the  rumbling  of  an  earthquake. 


444  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Mr.  Gould  began  a  lively  conversation  with  Miss  Anthony, 
while  the  light  complexioned  man  fidgeted  uneasily  in  his 
chair.  , 

"  So  you  are  Miss  Anthony,  of  the  Revolutio?i  f  inquired 
Mr.  Gould. 

"  I  am,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Would  it  be  ungallant  for  me  to  inquire  who  reports  the 
Wall  street  gossip  for  the  Revolutiori  f  continued  Mr.  Gould. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,"  answered  Miss  Anthony.  "  Our  re- 
ports have  created  a  great  sensation.  The  Wall  street  line 
is  the  only  line  in  which  we  beat  the  other  papers ;  and  I 
believe  that  some  of  them  are  favorites  with  3^ou  gentlemen. 
I  think  you  must  acknowledge  that  the  Wall  street  reports  of 
the  Revolution  are  always  accurate." 

Mr.  Gould  made  no  repl3^  The  other  gentleman  could 
stand  it  no  longer.  He  arose  to  his  feet,  walked  to  Mr. 
Gould's  desk,  looked  Miss  Anthony  in  the  eye  for  fourteen 
seconds,  and  then  strode  back  to  his  desk  with  a  heavy  step 
and  dropped  in  his  cushioned  chair. 

"  I  know,"  said  Miss  Anthony,  "  that  it  must  worry  you 
gentlemen  mightily  to  have  the  secrets  of  Wall  street  laid 
bare  in  the  Revolution  every  week  ;  but  the  fact  of  the  matter 
is,  gentlemen,  that  there  is  so  much  quarreling  in  Wall 
street,  and  there  are  so  many  noses  out  of  joint,  that  the 
jobbers  are  like  a  set  of  old  women.  They  all  tell  stories 
about  one  another,  and  the  Revolution  gets  hold  of  these 
stories.  But,"  she  continued,  turning  to  Mr.  Gould,  "  how. 
about  reducing  the  fares  for  the  delegates  to  the  Woman's 
Rights  Convention  ?  I  know  you  have  a  noble  heart,  a  kind 
disposition,  and  a  generous " 

"  Oh,  certainly,"  interrupted  Mr.  Gould  ,  "  we  will  reduce 
the  fare." 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  445 

Here  the  auburn-haired  gentleman  again  j'umped  to  his 
feet,  and  walked  to  Mr.  Gould's  desk,  saying  : 

"  Mr.  Gould,  I  wish  you  would  remember  that  the  Revo- 
lution has  done  us  more  harm  than  have  all  the  rest  of  the 
New  York  journals  put  together." 

Miss  Anthony's  gray  eyes  sought  the  mild  blue  eyes. 

"  Is  this  Prince  Erie  ?"  she  smilingly  inquired. 

"  I  am  Mr.  Fisk,  at  your  service,  madam,"  replied  the 
prince,  gallantly  lifting  his  hat.  "Are  you  the  Queen  of  the 
strong-minded  ?" 

Miss  Anthony  blushed,  fastened  her  e3-cs  on  Mr.  Fisk's 
huge  diamond,  and  answered  :  "  I  am  the  managing  editor 
of  the  Revolution,  and  I  am  glad — I  may  say,  I  rejoice — to 
hear  that  it  has  done  you  so  much  injury.  It  is  a  sure  indi- 
cation that  it  can  do  the  Erie  road  as  much  good,  when  that 
road  is  put  on  a  sound  basis." 

Here  Prince  Erie  replaced  his  hat,  and  returned  to  his 
desk.  Miss  Anthony  again  began  a  quiet  conversation  with 
Mr.  Gould,  during  which  she  twice  dropped  her  shawl, 
which  Mr.  Gould  twice  raised  and  hung  upon  her  extended 
arm.  In  a  few  moments  Miss  Anthony  sweetly  smiled,  said, 
"  Good  morning,  gentlemen  !"  and  floated  from  the  room. 

The  next  number  of  the  Revolution  contained  the  glad 
announcement  that  those  members  of  the  Woman's  Rights 
Convention  coming  to  the  city  on  the  Erie  road,  could  pro- 
cure return  tickets  free,  on  application  to  Miss  Anthony. 

When  President  Grant  visited  New  York,  June  18,  1S69, 
he  passed  the  evening  at  Fisk's  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre,  where 
he  listened  to  the  warblings  of  Irma  and  Desclauzas,  and 
witnessed  the  can-can,  in  the  opera  bouffe,  which  the  Erie 
Prince  had  placed  on  the  stage  at  this  cosy  temple  of  Thespis. 


44^  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

The  President  was  delighted  with  the  entertainment,  and 
Prince  Erie  was  happy  at  the  success  of  the  company  which 
he  had  brouo:ht  tog^ether. 

During  the  great  Peace  Jubilee  in  Boston,  in  June,  1869, 
President  Grant  visited  the  Hub.  He  left  New  York  on 
the  Providence,  one  of  the  superb  steamers  of  the  Narra- 
ganset  line,  of  which  Company  Colonel  Fisk  was  the  presi- 
dent. President  Grant  received  a  military  escort  to  the 
boat.  He  was  also  accompanied  by  Mr.  Jay  Gould  and 
Vice-Commodore  Simons,  of  the  Narraganset  line.  At 
the  pier  the  party  was  received  by  Mr.  Fisk,  who  was  clad 
in  an  Admiral's  uniform,  most  gorgeously  decorated.  His 
moustache  had  paid  a  recent  visit  to  his  inimitable  barber  ; 
his  gold -trimmed  uniform  shone  with  extraordinary  bril- 
liancy, and  his  big  diamond  sparkled  brighter  than  Venus 
on  a  frosty  night.  The  Admiral  received  the  party  with 
that  careless  ease  which  always  characterized  him.  From 
bow  to  stern,  inside  and  out,  the  Providence  was  decked 
with  streamers  and  pennants.  A  bridal  chamber  had  been 
set  apart  for  the  President's  use  ;  and  the  Admiral,  with  his 
usual  prodigality,  offered  the  President  the  entire  boat,  if  he' 
wanted  it.  Champagne  which  could  not  be  surpassed,  and 
cigars  of  fabulous  cost,  were  ordered  for  the  delectation  of 
the  honored  guest.  Dodworth's  band  accompanied  the 
party  ;  and  nothing,  which  the  most  lavish  expenditure  of 
money  could  command,  was  wanting  to  enhance  the  delight's 
of  the  occasion.  After  a  lively  trip,  in  which  the  festive 
Admiral  figured  extensively,  the  party  arrived  in  Boston. 

On  June  i6th,  the  second  day  of  the  great  musical  festival. 
Grant  and  his  suite,  which  included  many  prominent  civilians 
and  military  and  naval  officers,  (among  the  last-named.  Ad- 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  44/ 

miral  Fisk,)  visited  the  Coliseum  to  witness  the  great  musical 
festival  and  listen  to  the  anvil  and  cannon  choruses.  The 
Admiral  was  dressed  in  his  gorgeous  uniform,  which  far  ex- 
ceeded in  splendor  that  worn  by  any  other  officer  in  the 
retinue.  He  took  a  prominent  position  in  the  suite,  and 
marched  down  the  grand  aisle,  the  observed  of  all  observers. 
The  entire  chorus  and  orchestra  gave — 

"  See,  the  conquering  hero  comes  !" 

and  the  President  was  greeted  with  the  greatest  demonstra- 
tions of  welcome.  While  he  reservedly  acknowledged  the 
cordial  greeting,  Admiral  Fisk,  in  the  most  gracious  and  un- 
affected manner,  acknowledged  such  portion  of  the  applause 
as  he  deemed  intended  for  him,  and  his  easy  and  profuse 
style  left  no  doubt  that  he  thought  a  large  share  of  the 
plaudits  meant  for  him. 

During  the  performance,  a  photographic  apparatus  was 
brought  upon  the  stage  and  the  vast  audience  had  its  like- 
ness taken.  Among  the  naval  officers  present  were  several 
admirals.  Admiral  Fisk  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
photographic  group,  and  he  appeared  on  terms  of  easy 
familiarity  with  his  brother  officers. 

Fisk's  splendid  impudence  during  the  entire  visit  to  the 
Coliseum  did  not,  as  it  has  in  some  similar  cases,  where  men 
of  smaller  calibre  have  attempted  the  same  role,  bring  upon 
him  any  measure  of  contempt.  In  fact,  the  vast  assemblage 
seemed  rather  to  enjoy  it.     He  was,  very  soon  after,  dubbed 

Jubilee  Jim,"  which  title  was,  perhaps,  more  frequently  ap- 
plied to  him  thereafter  than  that  of  Prince  Erie. 

During  the  summer  of  1S69,  the  Hon.  Horace  Greeley 
had  occasion  to  visit  Boston.     He  went  by  Admiral  Fisk's 


448  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

line  of  steamers.  When  he  reached  the  pier,  he  found  the 
Admiral,  in  his  gorgeous  uniform,  superintending  the  loading 
of  the  steamer.  JNIr.  Fisk  spied  the  quaintly-attired  philoso- 
pher of  the  Tribune,  and  recognized  him  in  an  instant.  Seiz- 
ing his  carpet-bag,  the  Admiral  cried  out : 

"  Mr.  Greeley,  I  am  happy  to  see  you  ;  3'Ou  are  welcome. 
Come  right  on  board.     We  shall  be  off  directly." 

]Mr.  Greeley  hesitated,  and,  in  evident  alarm,  clung  to  h;  \ 
carpet-bag. 

"  My  name  is  Fisk,"  said  the  Admiral.  "  You  have,  prob- 
ably,  heard  of  me  before,  Mr.  Greeley?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I  remember  you  now.  You  were  an  ensign  in 
the  North  Atlantic  blockading  squadron  in  1S64?  I  remem- 
ber you  very  well.  I  had  occasion  to  use  your  name  while 
compiling  the  '  American  Conflict.'  " 

The  Admiral  drew  back,  apparently  dumbfounded.  Then 
he  seized  Mr.  Greeley  by  the  arm,  and  drew  him  on  the  boat, 
laughing  heartily. 

"  You  are  much  mistaken,  Mr.  Greeley,"  said  he.  "  I  am 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  of  the  Erie  Railroad  ;  you  should  certainly 
know  me,  for  I  have  been  indebted  to  you  for  several  com- 
pliments in  the  Tribune  on  the  conduct  of  that  road." 

Mr.  Greeley  cast  his  eyes  upon  the  sparkling  diamonds  on 
Mr.  Fisk's  bosom,  then  gave  a  fresh  glance  at  the  ghttering 
uniform,  and  replied  : 

"  Yes ;  it  has  been  my  opinion  that  the  Erie  road  has  been 
mismanaged.  I  am,  and  always  have  been  a  friend  of  the 
Erie.  I  urged  the  building  of  the  road;  I  sank  $10,000  in 
aid  of  it.  The  road  should  pay;  there  is  no  reason  in  the 
world  why  its  stockholders  should  not  receive  a  handsome 
yearly  dividend.  It  runs  through  an  agricultural  section  of 
countr}-,  and  the  milk-trains  alone — ." 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  449 

Here  the  Admiral  escorted  Mr.  Greeley  to  the  cabin,  and, 
calling  the  head  waiter,  directed  him  to  procure  a  first-class 
state-room  for  his  friend,  the  Hon.  Horace  Greeley.  The 
waiter  soon  returned  with  the  alarming  intelligence  that, 
with  one  exception,  every  state-room  on  the  boat  was  en- 
gaged. 

"  What?"  shouted  Mr.  Fisk. 

"  The  bridal  chamber  is  the  only  state-room  unoccupied," 
was  the  reply. 

"  Well,  escort  INIr.  Greeley  to  that,  then,"  answered  the 
Admiral. 

Mr.  Greelc}'  objected  to  the  bridal  chamber,  and  said  he 
had  no  objection  to  sleeping  on  a  sofa.  He  finally  yielded, 
however,  and  accepted  the  situation. 

INIr.  Greeley  was  received  at  the  supper-table  w^ith  marked 
attention.  Every  delicacy  was  set  before  him,  and  a  bottle 
of  Rocdcrcr  was  sent  him,  with  the  compliments  of  the  Ad- 
miral. This  was  declined  by  Mr.  Greeley,  who  would  drink 
nothing  but  water. 

No  money  was  taken  from  Mr.  Greeley.  The  freedom  of 
the  boat  was  placed  at  his  disposal.  When  he  offered  to  pay 
his  fare,  it  was  refused,  with  the  remark  that  his  money  was 
not  good.  Mr.  Greeley,  apparently  surprised,  offered  an- 
other greenback.  This  was  also  refused  on  the  ground  of 
its  suspicious  character.  Mr.  Greeley  insisted  that  the  clerk 
was  mistaken.  The  clerk  then  told  him  that  he  was  under 
orders  from  Mr.  Fisk  to  receive  no  money  from  him.  He 
was  the  guest  of  the  company. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Greeley  visited  the  deck.  The  band 
struck  up  "  Hail  to  the  Chief,"  which  was  followed  by  cheers 
from  the  passengers.  At  1 1  P.  M.  Mr.  Greeley  retired  to  the 
bridal  chamber,  escorted  by  Mr.  Fisk. 


450  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

One  of  Mr.  Fisk's  most  curious  actions  was  his  presenta- 
tion of  birds  to  Judge  Barnard.  While  the  Judge  has  suf- 
fered much  from  imputations  cast  upon  his  character  by 
reason  of  his  decisions  in  suits  involving  the  Erie  Railway, 
the  decisions  always  suited  Fisk.  In  June,  1869,  Mr.  Fisk 
sent  the  judge  two  owls.  The  owl  is  emblematic  of  wis- 
dom. To  send  a  judge  one  owl  is  to  signify  to  him  only 
that  you  consider  him  a  grave  and  reverend  judge.  On  the 
other  hand,  comparisons  being  odious,  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  say  to  a  judge  that  you  consider  him  superior  to  all  other 
judges.  But  how  delicate  a  way  did  Mr.  Fisk  discover  for 
doing  this  difficult  thing  !  He  sent  to  the  learned  judge  tivo 
owls !  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I  consider  your  Honor  equal  in 
wisdom  to  any  two  other  judges." 

Fisk's  tropically  luxuriant  tastes,  his  almost  grotesque  de- 
sire for  gaudy  colors  and  brilliant  surroundings,  reached 
their  climax  in  the  furnishing  of  the  Erie  offices  in  the  Grand 
Opera  House.  Over  $250,000  was  expended  in  fitting  up  this 
unequalled  business  palace.  A  flight  of  stairs  ushers  the 
visitor  into  the  main  hall,  floored  with  marble  of  tcsselated 
white  and  blue.  The  hall  is  fitted  with  sections  of  polished 
black  walnut  inlaid  with  other  polished  woods.  Richly- 
figured  ground  glass  is  inserted  in  the  panels,  and  the  desks 
are  of  equal  costliness.  The  ceiling  displays  the  richest  sug- 
gestions of  Pompeian  art.  Blue,  carmine,  lilac  and  gold  are 
blended  in  a  fanciful  tracery  of  lines  and  curves.  Through 
these  run  intertwining  flowers  and  vines,  among  which  nes- 
tle naked  cupids  and  rosy  nymphs.  In  the  center  is  a  my- 
thological maiden  in  a  drapery  of  green  and  red.  Other 
and  fantastic  devices  in  brilliant  colors  decorate  the  ceiling. 
In  the  four  several  corners  are  Morse,  Franklin,  Fulton  and 


WILLIAM    M.  TWEED. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  453 

Watt,  in  a  blaze  of  color.  Chandeliers  costing  $i,ooo  each 
hang  from  the  ceiling. 

At  one  end  of  the  grand  hall  a  lofty  pair  of  ^500  doors 
swing  back,  revealing  what  was  the  sanctum  sanctorum  of 
the  blonde  Admiral.  A  plushy  carpet  of  gold  and  brown 
sinks  under  the  feet.  On  a  raised  platform  stands  a  $500 
desk  of  polished  walnut,  inlaid  with  walnut  root  and  striped 
with  gold.  Behind  this  a  S500  chair,  richly  upholstered  and 
studded  with  gold-headed  nails.  The  prevailing  hues  of  the 
wall-paper  are  brown  and  gold,  while  the  ceiling  is  of  ceru- 
lean blue  blended  with  fawn,  and  bright  with  crimson  ovals. 
On  these  latter  is  imprinted  in  letters  of  gold  the  word 
^' Erie."  In  one  corner  stands  a  $1,000  wash-stand,  of  most 
delicate  marble  and  porcelain,  the  bowl  being  tinted  with 
rose  and  gold,  and  displaying  the  figures  of  lovely  n3^mphs 
in  disporting  attitudes.  Every  other  appurtenance  is  of  the 
same  splendid  description,  and  the  rooms  of  the  other  offi- 
cers of  the  company  display  the  same  royal  magnificence. 

At  the  time  of  opening  the  offices  a  great  storm  was  raised 
throughout  the  country  over  what  was  claimed  to  be  a 
fraudulent  expenditure  of  the  Company's  moneys.  But  pub- 
lic clamor  proved  unavailing,  and  the  Erie  Company's  busi- 
ness is  still  transacted  in  the  same  superb  apartments,  which 
include  besides,  perfectly  appointed  kitchens  and  elegant 
dining  and  sleeping  rooms. 

Fisk  could  do  nothing  like  other  people.  Whatever  he 
did  must  be  bigger,  better  or  gaudier.  In  the  summer  of 
1869  he  placed  on  the  North  River  the  ferry-boat  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  undoubtedly  the  finest  of  New  York's  ferry-boats. 
The  vessel's  extreme  length  is  178  feet,  and  her  extreme 
breadth  63  feet.  In  compliance  with  the  Admiral's  charac- 
26 


454  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

teiistic  love  of  notoriety,  a  portrait  ot  himself,  elaborately 
framed  and  surrounded  by  the  national  insignia  was  placed 
at  either  end  of  the  boat.  The  panels  in  the  cabin  are  painted 
a  delicate  green,  with  pearl  stiles,  while  the  cornices  and 
arches  are  of  lilac,  pink  and  pearl.  Each  seat  in  the  smok- 
ing cabin  is  provided  with  a  spittoon  and  a  match-scraper, 
while  a  gas-light  similar  to  those  seen  in  tobacconists'  stores 
hangs  conveniently  near. 

The  boat  is  built  of  the  best  materials  throughout.  A 
large  number  of  handsome  mirrors  adorn  the  saloons.  Her 
life-saving  apparatus  is  unusually  complete.  She  runs  from 
Twenty-third  street  to  the  Erie  Railway  pier. 

One  day  in  July,  1869,  Admiral  Fisk  stood  in  his  office 
getting  ready  to  leave  for  the  piers  to  see  his  steamers  off. 
While  the  Admiral  pared  his  nails  with  a  fifty-dollar  pocket 
knife,  his  valet  got  ready  his  uniform.  Donning  his  jaunty 
cap,  he  was  about  to  leave  the  office,  when  he  received  the 
following  telegram : 

"  Save  a  state-room  for  Chief-Justice  Chase.  He  is  on 
train.     Don't  fail." 

Fisk  was  delighted.  He  rushed  down  to  pier  30  to  stop 
the  steamer  Bristol^,  "  Chase  is  coming  on  the  Jersey  road. 
Send  a  carriage  for  him,"  said  Fisk. 

"  What  Chase?"  asked  Simons. 

"  What  Chase  ?"  said  Fisk.  "  Old  Chase  ;  Salmon— Hor- 
ace Greeley's  friend." 

While  Simons  dashed  off  after  the  Chief-Justice,  Fisk  de- 
tained the  boat;  a  crowd  of  admiring  boot-blacks  gathering 
about  and  watching  the  resplendent  Admiral. 

When  half  an  hour  past  her  sailing  time,  the  Admiral  reluc- 
tantly gave  orders  for  the  Bristol's  departure,  and  went  down 


JAMES  FISK,   JR.  .  455 

to  pier  28  to  hold  the  Newport  boat ;  thinking  that  Simons 
might  bring-  the  Chief- Justice  there,  as  he  (the  Admiral)  did 
not  know  whether  Mr.  Chase_ wanted  to  go  by  the  Newport 
or  the  Fall  River  line. 

The  Newport  was  detained  until  7 :  30  p.m.,  when  half-a- 
dozen  carriages  dashed  down  the  pier.  Simons  descended 
from  one  of  them,  but  no  Chase. 

"  Where's  Chase?"  shouted  the  Admiral. 

"  He's  gone  on  the  Stonington  line,"  said  Simons.  "  The 
train  was  delayed  by  an  open  draw-bridge,  and  while  I  was 
on  this  side  of  the  river  looking  for  him  the  Stonington  fel- 
lows went  across  and  gobbled  him  up." 

The  Admiral  took  off  his  silver-starred  cap  and  scratched 
his  head.  Then  he  shouted,  "  Cast  off!"  to  the  Captain  of 
the  Newport,  and  turned  and  walked  up  the  pier.  As  he  en- 
tered his  carriage  he  said  : 

"  Well,  shiver  my  mizzen  mast,  and  rip  my  royal  halyards  ! 
I've  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  justices  and  judges  in  my 
time,  but  a  Washington  justice  lays  over  anything  of  the 
kind  I  ever  saw  in  New  York  City.     Drive  on,  Tom  !" 

Fisk's  pluck  and  audacity  were  well  shown  in  the  celebrated 
war  between  the  Erie  and  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna  Rail- 
roads. Mr.  Van  Valkenburgh,  of  the  last-named  road  testified 
on  the  examination  that  Fisk  told  him  he  would  get  possession 
of  his  road  "  if  it  cost  millions  of  money  and  took  any  num- 
ber of  men."  Mr.  Van  Valkenburgh  also  testified  that  Colo- 
nel Fisk  offered  to  play  Mr.  Ramsey,  President  of  the  Albany 
and  Susquehanna  road,  a  game  of  seven-up  for  the  railroad. 

Fisk  used  often  to  tell  of  his  first  mistake  in  life. 

Said  the  Colonel,  "  When  I  was  a  little  boy  on  the  Vermont 


456  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

farm,  my  father  took  me  up  to  the  stable  one  day,  where  a 
row  of  cows  stood  in  the  stable," 

Said  he,  ''  James,  the  stable  window  is  pretty  high  for  a 
boy,  but  do  you  think  you  could  take  this  shovel  and  clean 
out  the  stable?" 

"  I  don't  know,  '  Pop,'  "  said  James,  "  I  never  have  done  it. 

"  Well,  my  boy,  if  you  will  do  it  this  morning,  I'll  give 
you  this  bright  silver  dollar,"  said  his  father,  patting  him  on 
his  head,  while  he  held  the  silver  dollar  before  his  eyes. 

"Good,"  says  James;  "I'll  try;"  and  away  he  went  to 
work.  He  tugged  and  pulled  and  lifted  and  puffed,  and, 
finally,  it  was  done,  and  his  father  gave  him  the  bright  silver 
dollar,  saying — 

"  That's  right,  James ;  you  did  it  splendidly,  and  now,  I 
find  you  can  do  it  so  nicely,  I  shall  have  you  do  it  every  morn- 
ing all  winter  /"  E.  P. 

Fisk  said  his  second  mistake  occurred  in  maturer  years — 
when  he  first  became  associated  with  Gould  in  the  Erie 
office. 

"  How  was  it?"  asked  Colonel  Rucker. 

"  Well,"  said  Fisk,  "  Gould  had  some  woman  litigation  on 
hand,  and  he  came  to  me  and  said  he  wanted  to  use  my 
name." 

"  What  for  ?"  said  I. 

"Well,  Fisk,"  said  Gould,  "you  know  my  wife  is  very 
sensitive,  and  you  know  this  woman  business  is  full  of  scan- 
dal. Now,  you  know  you  don't  care,  so  just  let  me  use  your 
name  for  a  week  in  this  case." 

"  What  was  the  result.  Colonel  ?"  asked  Bucker. 

"Result?  Why,  by  thunder,  Gould  used  my  name  one 
week,  and  there  was  n't  anything  left  of  it.     It  was  used  up. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  457 

He  got  it  so  mixed  up  and  scandalized,  that  I  never  could 
retain  it,  and  I  felt  as  if  I  didn't  care  a  damn  about  it  after- 
wards !"  E.  P. 

Fisk  was  busy  at  his  desk.  A  poor  old  man  came  to  the 
door. 

"  I  want  to  see  Colonel  Fisk,"  said  the  stranger. 

"  Here  he  is,  Pop,"  said  the  Colonel,  with  a  laugh  ;  "  come 
in,  and  tell  us  about  it." 

"  I  want  your  assistance  in  getting  me  to  Lowell,  where 
my  wife  is.     I  am  out  of  money." 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?"  asked  Fisk. 

**  I  don't  like  to  tell  you,  sir,"  said  the  grey-haired  stranger, 
hanging  his  head. 

"  You'd  better  tell  me,"  said  Fisk.  "  It  won't  hurt 
you." 

"  I've  been  four  years  and  six  months  in  State  prison.  1 
was  put  in  for  five  years ;  but  on  account  of  good  behavior, 
I  had  six  months  taken  off." 

"  What  were  you  put  in  for  ?"      ■ 

"  Grand  larceny." 

"Hell!"  said  Fisk.  "John," — to  his  private  secretary — 
"  give  this  old  man  a  pass,  and  some  money  to  pay  his  tare 
to  the  boat ;  and  send  a  man  to  show  him  how  to  get  there. 
He's  been  so  long  away  that  he's  forgotten.  And,  old  fellow, 
make  a  good  start  for  an  honest  life  ;  and  if  I  can  help  you, 
let  me  know." 

The  ex-convict  departed  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  a  sob 
in  his  throat.  "  God  bless  you  !"  was  all  he  could  say. 
"  You'll  not  be  sorry  for  this." 

Six  months  later  Fisk  received  a  letter  from  the  old  man. 
He  was  then  a  respected  citizen,  doing  an  excellent  business 


458  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

and  brim-full  of  gratitude  to  one  of  the  few  men  in  the 
world  who  could  say  a  kind  word  to  a  thief. 

In  the  summer  of  1869,  when  Fisk  first  moved  into  the 
Opera  House,  he  received  an  indignant  call  from  Daniel 
Drew,  against  whom  he  had  recently  opened  suit  for  the 
recovery  of  certain  moneys.  Uncle  Daniel  came  in,  puffing 
his  cigar  in  his  peculiar  manner,  and  after  dodging  the  ques- 
tion for  a  while,  blurted  out,  with  a  whine  :  "  Now,  Jeems, 
how  kin  you  find  it  in  your  heart  to  treat  an  old  man  so  ?" 

"  Do  you  remember  what  the  Nabob  said  to  the  other 
fellow  ?" 

"  No,  I  don't. 

Well,  he  remarked  quietly  to  him,  under  circumstances 
much  like  the  present,  '  How,  if  the  boot  were  on  the  other 
leg?'" 

A  poor  woman  came  in  one  day,  with  a  pitiful  story.  Her 
husband,  a  mechanic,  had  broken  his  leg,  and  they  were  in 
a  state  of  utter  destitution.  Fisk  called  a  detective  "  Go 
with  this  woman.     Learn  whether  her  story  is  true." 

The  officer  returned,  with  the  report  that  affairs  were 
even  worse  than  the  poor  woman  had  made  them. 

"John,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  put  down  $25  a  week  for  that 
woman,  till  her  husband  gets  well."  The  payment  was  kept 
up  regularly  till  March,  when  the  mechanic,  having  fully 
recovered,  came  down  to  thank  his  benefactor. 

"  Never  mind  thanks,  my  good  fellow  ;  I  find  that  I  made 
a  damned  good  investment." 

Fisk's  $15,  received  for  attending  each  meeting  of  the 
Erie  Board,  he  never  used.     He  always  handed  the  amount 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  459 

to  his  secretary,  with  directions  to  put  it  in  an  envelope  and 
give  it  to  the  first  deserving  object  of  charity  that  should 
come  in.  At  the  last  meeting  that  Fisk  attended,  he  was  all 
alone.  "  John,"  said  he,  "  take  that  money  and  put  it  away. 
The  Lord  will  send  somebody  for  it." 

Sure  enough,  on  the  following  day  a  letter  came  from  a 
family  in  distress. 

"  Told  you  so,  John.  The  Lord  will  take  care  of  these 
fellows.     Send  it  on." 

"  My  colored  brother,"  said  the  Colonel  to  a  plain,  honest- 
looking  colored  gentleman,  who  had  called  to  get  pecuniary 
aid  for  his  little  church  on  Eighth  Avenue ;  "  if  there's  any- 
thing I  like  to  boost  along,  it's  early  piety— and  it's  damned 
hard  to  have  too  much  of  it.  Captain  Williamson  will  go 
down  with  you  and  make  inquiries.  If  he  says  it's  all  right 
— and  I  believe  it  is — you  shall  have  the  money." 

The  Captain  made  a  favorable  report,  and  the  hearts  of 
the  colored  brethren  were  soon  made  glad. 

A  conductor  on  the  Erie  road  was  detected  in  embezzling 
the  Company's  funds,  and  was  discharged.  He  begged  very 
hard  to  be  taken  back,  restored  the  stolen  money,  and  prom- 
ised solemnly  that  he  would  never  again  betray  his  trust. 
He  was  a  politician  in  a  small  way,  and  his  application  for 
reinstatement  was  endorsed  by  a  number  of  the  cit3''s  politi- 
cal magnates,  among  whom  was  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  judge  was  very  urgent  in  his  demand.  "  All 
right,"  said  Fisk;  "  III  send  you  some  papers  to-night,  and 
then  we'll  talk  about  it."  He  forwarded  a  number  of  affi- 
davits to  the  judge,  who  read  them  carefully.  On  the 
following  da}'  Fisk  met   the  Judge.     "  What   do   you   say 


460  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

now  ?     Shall  I  put  that  man   back  on  your  recommenda- 
tion ?" 

"  I  guess  I'll  say  no  more  about  it,"  said  the  judge. 

A  hump-back  boy,  hat  m  hand,  walked  in  timidly  one 
morning. 

"  Are  you  Colonel  Fisk,  sir  ?"  said  he,  twirling  his  well- 
worn  hat  around  nervously. 

"  That's  what  they  call  me,  sonny.  Now,  what  can  I  do 
for  you  ?" 

"  I'm  a  news-boy  ;  and  I'm  trying  to  get  a  stand  in  some 
good  place  where  I  can  sell  more  papers," 

"  Got  father  and  mother?" 

"  Got  a  mother  and  two  little  sisters,  as  I  takes  care  of" 

"  Good  boy  !  Now  run  over  to  the  corner  of  Eighth  Av- 
enue and  23d  street,  give  my  compliments  to  the  gentleman 
in  the  drug-store,  and  ask  him  to  give  3'ou  permission  to 
build  your  stand  on  that  corner  ;  then  come  back  to  me." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  boy  was  back,  his  face  wearing  a  look 
of  great  disappointment." 

"  Won't  do  it,"  said  the  boy. 

Fisk  was  now  changing  his  coat. 

"  Come  along.  Deacon,  and  I'll  get  you  a  stand." 

They  marched  from  place  to  place  for  an  hour  or  more, 
but  no  stand  was  secured.  At  last,  at  the  corner  of  Broad- 
way and  29th  street,  the  coveted  site  was  found,  and  full 
permission  given  to  the  boy  to  establish  himself  there.  The 
little  fellow's  gratitude  was  more  than  doubled  when  Colonel 
Fisk,  with  a  pleasant  word  of  encouragement,  handed  him  a 
greenback  of  goodly  size,  with  which  to  purchase  his  stock 
in  trade.  At  this  writing  the  young  stationer  is  driving  a 
brisk  trade  at  the  stand  which  Colonel  Fisk  procured  for 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  461 

him  ;  and  he  holds  in  lively  remembrance  the  kindness  of 
his  benefactor. 


When  Fisk  was  shot  by  Stokes,  he  was  calling  upon  Mrs. 
Morse  and  her  daughters.  Mr.  Morse  was  an  old  friend  of 
Fisk's.  While  bathing  near  New  Orleans  a  year  or  two 
ago,  he  broke  his  neck  by  diving  in  shallow  water.  When 
Fisk  heard  of  the  accident,  he  at  once  sent  for  Mrs.  Morse, 
her  mother  and  her  daughters,  and  pledged  himself  to  sup- 
port them  while  they  lived  ;  and  the  pledge  was  faithfully 
kept.  A  few  months  ago  the  elder  Mrs.  Morse  became 
afflicted  with  a  dangerous  disease  of  the  eyes.  Fisk  sent 
the  whole  family  to  Europe,  where  they  remained  until  the 
patient  was  thoroughly  cured,  through  the  efforts  of  the 
best  surgeons  in  the  old  world. 

"  Alighting  at  No.  74  Chester  Square,  and  ascending  a  flight 
of  massive  granite  steps,  we  pulled  the  silver  bell-knob,  and 
soon  the  large  plate-glass  doorway  swung  open,  and  a  col- 
ored servant  in  livery  ushered  us  into  the  magnificent  recep- 
tion room.  After  a  few  moments  delay,  Mrs.  Fisk  entered 
the  room.  She  was  dressed  for  an  evening  reception,  which 
she  was  to  have  attended  at  Rice's,  on  Beacon  street.  We 
had  anticipated  seeing  a  splendid  lady,  but  the  magnificent 
woman  who  appeared  before  us,  attired  in  a  white  velvet 
dress,  en  train,  cut  slightly  decollete,  with  jewels  and  the 
flash  of  diamonds,  quite  bewildered  us.  Presenting  our  note 
of  introduction,  we  received  a  most  genial  welcome,  and  at 
once  felt  at  home  in  the  presence  of  her  who  lives  in  indul- 
gence of  all  the  wants  and  wishes  that  wealth  can  secure. 
Presently  another  lady,  Miss  Fanny  Harrod,  entered  the 
room.     She  is  the  companion  of  Mrs.  Fisk,  and  the  Jinancc'e 


4^2  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

of  a  Broad  street  banker.  The  two  ladies,  whether  at  the 
opera,  the  theatre,  or  driving  along  the  Boston  boulevards, 
or  traveling  over  the  country,  are  inseparable. 

Mrs.  Fisk's  marriage  with  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  took  place  at 
Ashland,  Massachusetts,  in  the  autumn  of  1855.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Lucy  D.  Moore.  She  was  an  orphan,  and  a  ward 
of  Mr.  Sanderson  of  Springfield.  For  two  years  previous 
to  her  marriage  she  attended  the  Brattleboro  Female  Sem- 
inary. There  is  where  she  first  met  Mr.  Fisk,  and  became 
engaged  to  him.  They  resided  there  until  1865,  when  they 
removed  to  Boston,  and  took  rooms  at  the  Marlboro  Hotel, 
on  Washington  street.  They  then  went  to  the  more  fash- 
ionable Tremont  House,  remaining  there  until  1867,  when 
Mrs.  Fisk  purchased  in  her  own  name  her  present  splendid 
residence.  It  is  valued  at  $75,000  ;  and  its  situation  is  the 
best  not  only  in  Chester  Square,  but  in  Boston.  ...  A  Man- 
sard roof  crowns  the  structure.  The  basement  is  very  deep, 
and  divided  into  kitchen,  laundry,  and  dining-room.  The 
first  floor  is  an  extensive  drawing  room,  the  whole  length  of 
the  deep  house  ;  on  the  floor  above  are  the  reception  rooms. 
The  third  floor  is  divided  into  a  library,  Mrs.  Fisk's  suite, 
and  chambers  for  guests.  In  the  fourth  story  are  the  billiard 
and  card  rooms,  and  chambers  for  servants.  The  drawing- 
room,  while  one  of  the  largest  in  Boston,  is  furnished  with  a 
splendor  seldom,  if  ever,  met  with  in  any  New  England 
State.  The  furniture,  chairs,  settees,  cases,  tables,  are  of 
solid  rosewood,  elaborately  carved.  The  chairs  are  covered 
with  bright  crimson;  the  curtains  are  costly  lace,  with  over- 
curtains  of  crimson  satin,  looped  to  a  border  of  gold.  The 
carpet,  which  is  a  heavy  Axminster,  is  a  delicate  pearl-color 
ground-work,  which  blends  with  the  prevailing  color  of  the 
frescoed  walls.     The  ground-work  of  the  carpet  is  relieved 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  463 

by  flowers  of  various  hues,  of  which  crimson  is  the  chief. 
These  correspond  with  the  tapestry  of  the  furniture.  The 
mantel  is  Parian  marble.  The  chandeliers  were  imported 
from  Paris,  and  are  exceedingly  n'cherch^.  The  walls  are  dress- 
ed with  rare  and  costly  paintings.  There  are  among  them  a 
number  of  porcelain-types  and  paintings  of  James  Fisk,  Jr. 
At  least  two  dozen,  possibly  fifty,  representations  of  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  hang  on  the  walls.  Some  are  burlesque  ;  many 
are  of  ordinary  artistic  work,  while  a  few  are  superior  in 
design  and  execution.  He  is  represented  in  quite  all  posi- 
tions and  attitudes,  from  a  quiet  seat  in  the  drawing-room  to 
a  standing  position  on  a  flying  locomotive,  with  Grant  and 
Jay  Gould  clinging  to  him.  The  reception  rooms  are  richly 
furnished  and  cosy.  The  same  superior  taste  which  we  no- 
tice in  the  arrangement  of  the  drawing-room,  also  prevails 
here.  The  carpets  are  Axminsters,  woven  solid ;  scarlet 
ground-work  with  central  figures  of  flowers  wreathed  into 
an  immense  bouquet.  The  furniture  is  highly  polished  solid 
rosewood. 

"  The  curtains  are  of  the  richest  lace.  The  paintings  are 
fine.  It  is  here  where  Mrs.  Fisk's  domestic  traits  of  charac- 
ter are  observed.  The  rooms  glow  with  flowers,  delicate 
plants  and  shrubs.  They  are  seen  in  every  window,  in  all 
the  corners  of  the  rooms,  in  the  niches  of  the  marble  mantles, 
and  underneath  the  rosewood  and  marble  tables.  The}'  are 
hung  in  tasty  bead,  moss,  and  china  baskets,  from  different 
parts  of  the  rooms.  The  halls  on  each  floor  contain  flower- 
pots and  vines.  The  carpets  in  the  rooms  of  the  third  floor 
composing  Mrs.  Fisk's  suite  are  Axminsters,  pearl  white 
ground-work,  with  chintz  figures  in  every  variety  of  colors. 
The  billiard-room  above,  and  the  adjoining  card-rooms,  are 
carpeted  with  scarlet  brussels.     A  linen  shield  extends  around 


464  LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF 

the  billiard-table,  which  is  one  of  the  best.  The  furniture  of 
this  floor  is  solid  mahogany  and  black  walnut.  The  halls 
and  stairs  are  covered  with  brussels  carpets  of  a  prevailing 
crimson  color.  The  rugs  and  mats  throughout  the  house  are 
most  costly  and  elegant.  The  dining-room  is  elegant.  The 
furniture  is  rosewood,  sideboard,  tables,  chairs  and  all.  The 
chairs  are  trimmed  with  velvet.  Lace  curtains  hang  at  the 
windows,  and  a  fine  brussels  carpet  sleeps  on  the  floor.  The 
ground-work  of  this  carpet  is  green,  of  that  lovely  shade  that 
almost  compels  the  thought  that  one  is  standing  on  wood- 
mosses.  The  shade  is  relieved  with  tiny  figures  of  orange. 
The  whole  effect  is  that  of  a  woodland  carpet.  There  are 
costlier  and  more  magnificent  carpets  in  the  rooms  above, 
but  the  prettiest  in  the  house  is  that  in  the  dining-room. 
The  china  and  silver  sets  for  Mrs.  Fisk's  table  are  probably 
the  most  complete  in  this  country.  The  house  has  been  fur- 
nished entirely  regardless  of  expense. 

"  Mrs.  Fisk's  jewels  are  not  only  more  numerous,  more 
varied,  and  comprise  a  greater  range  of  gems,  but  are  the 
most  valuable  in  this  country.  We  can  only  mention  a  few 
of  her  most  valuable  jewels.  She  has  several  watches  set  in 
diamonds,  and  a  number  of  very  fine  chains,  both  long  and 
short.  One  watch,  of  recent  importation,  is  perhaps  the  only 
one  of  the  kind  worn  in  this  country.  It  is  a  miniature 
album,  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  covers  is  a  very  tiny  time- 
piece. The  covers  are  studded  with  diamonds.  The  album 
contains  a  number  of  gold  leaves  in  which  small  miniatures 
may  be  adjusted. 

"  A  diamond  brooch  with  a  four  carat  steel  white  centre 
diamond,  and  sixteen  two  carat  stones,  each  worth  83,000  in 
gold,  is  the  most  valuable  diamond  ornament  in  the  United 
States,  excepting  two  diamond  crosses  owned  in  New  York. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  465 

Mrs.  Fisk  owns  a  set  of  diamond  ear-rings,  brooch  and  cross 
for  necklace  valued  at  thirty  thousand  dollars.  Mer  various 
ear-ring-s,  finger-rings,  crosses  and  brooches  containing  dia- 
monds, represent  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Her  pearl  necklaces,  one  of  triple  rows,  and  another  of  great 
length,  are  exceedingly  beautiful  and  very  valuable.  Her 
trousseau  is  not  second  to  any  worn  by  an  American  lady. 
Mrs.  Fisk's  splendid  coach  and  four-in-hand,  is  the  finest  turn- 
out in  New  England,  or  in  the  United  States  outside  of  New 
York  city.  Most  of  the  harness  was  made  to  order  in  Lon- 
don. It  is  black,  with  profuse  gold-plated  ornaments.  The 
coach  is  high  and  long,  with  an  oval  glass  front,  and  is 
trimmed  with  heavy  blue  silk,  quilted  with  white  thread. 
The  panel  of  each  door  and  the  rear  of  the  coach  bear  the 
monogram  J.  F.,  Jr.,  in  raised  gold-plated  letters.  The  horses 
are  two  coal-black  geldings  and  two  superb  milk-white  steeds, 
and  are  arranged  as  follows:  A  coal-black  nigh  wheel  horse, 
and  white  off  wheel  horse ;  black  off  leader,  and  white  nigh 
leader.  When  this  turn-out,  which  is  driven  by  Albert  Reed, 
Mrs.  Fisk's  coachman,  appears  on  the  Boston  drives,  or  tears 
up  Beacon  street  heights,  crowds  pause  to  admire  and  won- 
der over  it.  This  turn-out  has  created  a  sensation  in  the 
Hub.  Mrs.  Fisk,  however,  prefers  to  drive  out  into  the  coun- 
try and  enjoy  the  quiet  of  the  many  beautiful  drives  surround- 
ing Boston.  This  establishment  and  most  of  her  jewels  are 
presents  from  her  husband. 

"  In  her  personal  appearance  Mrs.  Fisk  is  unusally  attrac- 
tive and  charming.  The  majority  of  observers  would  call 
her  beautiful.  She  is  tall,  even  a  trifle  taller  than  Mr.  Fisk, 
slightly  inclined  of  late  3'ears  to  cviboupoiiit  and  with  a  per- 
fect carriage,  appears  most  stately  at  all  times.  She  is  32 
years  old.     Her  complexion  is  blonde.     Her  hair  is   dark- 


4^6  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

brown,  but  long,  fine  and  heavy.  Her  figure  is  one  that  com- 
mands attention  wherever  she  goes.  This  excellent  lady's 
character,  her  benevolence,  which  is  unbounded  and  quietly 
bestowed,  her  love  of  home  and  many  accomplishments,  have 
made  her  of  late  years  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  Mrs.  Fisk's 
fortune  is  among  the  milHons,  but  she  has  not  received  gifts 
of  large  sums  of  money  from  Mr.  Fisk,  as  is  generally  sup- 
posed. As  soon  as  they  were  wedded  she  received  a  present 
of  some  property  located  in  Main  street,  Brattleboro,  Ver- 
mont. Since  that  time  she  has  continued  to  purchase 
property  there  in  her  own  name,  and  at  present  owns 
the  majority  of  the  business  buildings  and  residences  in 
Main  street.  Her  property  has  so  increased  in  value  that 
it  is  now  estimated  to  be  worth  $2,000,000.  She  is  a 
woman  of  admirable  business  tact." 


A  poor  young  negro  theological  student  came  to  Fisk. 

''  What's  the  matter  with  your  tin  oven.  Brother  Johnson  ?" 
asked  the  Colonel. 

"  I  wish  to  go  to  the  Howard  Seminary  in  Washington, 
sir,  to  complete  my  studies  for  the  ministry  ;  and  I  am  with- 
out money." 

"  Too  bad.  Now,  we  must  always  help  along  the  cause. 
John,  give  Brother  Johnson  a  pass  to  Washington. 

One  day  Fisk  was  traveling  to  Niagara  with  his  brother- 
in-law  Hooker.  The  director's  car  passed  a  car  full  of 
calves. 

"  There,  Colonel — there  are  some  of  your  relations,"  said 
Hooker,  laughing. 

"  Yes ;  relations  by  marriage"  said  Fisk.  E.  P. 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  4^7 

The  day  before  Fisk  was  shot  he  came  into  the  office,  and 
after  looking  over  some  interest  account,  he  shouted 
"Gould!  Gould!" 

"  Well,  what  ?''  says  Gould,  stroking  his  jetty  whiskers. 

"  I  want  to  know  how  you  go  to  work  to  figure  this  inter- 
est so  that  it  amounts  to  more  than  the  principal  f "  said  the 
Colonel.  E.  P. 

Some  of  the  trustees  of  a  church  in  Brattleboro'  sent  to 
Fisk  for  money  to  build  a  new  grave-yard  fence. 

"  What  in  thunder  do  you  want  with  a  new  fence  ?"  ex- 
claimed he.  "  Those  that  are  in  can't  get  out ;  and  those 
that  are  out  don't  want  to  get  in  ;  so  what's  the  use  of  it  ?" 

This  is  the  way  a  Williams  College  Junior  dishes  up  the 
life  and  adventures  of  the  Prince  of  Erie  in  the  Williatns 
Review  : 

Now  lith  and  listen,  gentylmen,  "  Now  tel  me,  tel  me,  thou  lyttel  foote- 

That  of  myrthes  loveth  to  here,  page, 

And  I  wil  tel  to  you  a  storj-e  What  mought  the  matere  bee  ?" 

Wil  mak  you  monye  a  tere.  "Syr  Knyghte,  the  men  in  yon  citee, 

In  cryance  cal  upon  thee." 
Syr  Jimfisk  hee  was  the  noblest 

In  al  New  Yorke  citee,         [knyghte  "  Now,  harnys  me  quick  six  horses, 

In  hys  stockyngs  al  hce  was  sixe  fete  And  carj-e  me  to  the  fraye, 

tal,  And  I  wil  sucor  thys  faytheful  towne, 

And  hys  gyrdel  was  sixe  fete  thre.  That  caleth  on  mee  thys  daye." 

Ful  merr>-  a  chylde  was  Syr  Jimfisk,        With  his  faytheful  band  of  frendes  treu, 
In  drj-nk  and  al  pleasauncc,  To  the  batyl  he  is  gon, 

And  ful  ofte  hee  sate  in  the  theeatyr.        And   there    hee   findeth   a  grievcouse 
To  se  the  fayre  mayds  dance.  str)fe, 

When  that  hee  is  com  anone. 

Thys  mickle  knyghte  in   hys   garden 

walked,  For  the  Yrishmen  had  brokyn  loose 

Which  was  hys  maner  mete,  And  monye  men  had  slayne. 

When  hee  behelde  a  lyttel  footepage  Then  did  Syr  Jimfisk  kil  them  al. 

Com  runyng  down  the  strete.  And  get  the  towne  grate  gayne. 


4^8  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"Njw  blesse  thee,  now,  our  lord  Jim-    And  shee  is  gone  to  the  mayre  of  New 
fisk  !"  Yorke.  ' 

The  peple  with  joie  did  crye  ;  And  a  fals  tale  shee  does  tel. 

But  hee's  wounded  soe  in  hys  smallest 

toe,  Now   heaven   thee   save,   thou    gent}^! 

That  it  feres  hym  he  must  dye.  knyght. 

They  plot  aga3mst  thy  hed. 
But  then  cam   a  leech  and  guv  him    And   but    if    thou    flee    the    morrowe 
quicke,  mornyng, 

A  draft  of  vertues  grate,  I  wot  thou  wilt  bee  ded  ! 

That  uppe  hee  rose  from  hys  dying  bed. 
And  called  for  a  whiskye  strate.  Then  a  carlish  churl  of  the  north  coun- 

try, 
Th)'S    doughtye   wight   was   sore    dis-        Whom  hyghte  was  Stoaks  by  name, 
traught,  Rose  upp  and  tooke  a  lyttel  pystol. 

For  a  v)Tgin  fare  to  se.  And  hee  loaded  the  same. 

Hyght  Josephine  shee  was  yclept, 
With  eyen  brjj^ght  of  blee.  And  hee  shot  Syr  Jimfisk  in  the  hart, 

As  hee  cam  out  of  the  dore, 
But  thys  mayden  fare  was  fals-hearted,     And  such  a  mournful  tale  as  thys 
A  treytress  foul  and  fel,  I  never  wil  tel  you  more.     Amen. 


As  many  statements  have  from  time  to  time  been  made 
public,  purporting  to  be  correct  copies  of  the  will  of  James 
Fisk,  Jr.,  which  were,  all  of  them,  incorrect,  that  it  is  grati- 
fying to  be  able  at  length  to  give  a  true  copy  of  the  will  as 
admitted  to  probate  by  Surrogate  Hutchings. 

James  Fisk,  father  of  the  decedent,  named  as  legatee  in 
the  will  with  the  widow,  joined  in  the  petition  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  will  to  probate,  thereby  waiving  all  objection 
to  its  provisions.  Mr.  Jordan,  too,  named  as  co-executor 
with  the  widow,  retired  from  such  office,  thereby  constituting 
Mrs.  Fisk  sole  executor  of  the  will. 

All  necessary  conditions  and  preliminaries  being  complied 
with,  the  Surrogate  felt  justified  in  admitting  the  will  to 
probate,  granting  letters  testamentary  to  Mrs.  Fisk. 

The  estate  was  sworn  to  as  not  exceeding  one  million  dol- 
lars. 


THE    (iRAVE   OF   COL.  JAMES   FISK,  Jr. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  47 1 


THE   WILL. 


T,  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  being  of 
sound  mind  and  memory,  do  make,  publish  and  declare  this 
my  last  will  and  testament,  hereby  revoking  all  former  wills 
by  me  made. 

1.  I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  all  my  estate  and  property, 
real  and  personal,  except  the  special  legacy  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, to  my  beloved  wife,  Lucy  D.  Fisk,  subject,  however, 
to  a  trust  to  pay  to  my  dear  father  and  mother  jointly,  or  to 
the  survivor  of  them,  $3,000  a  year  for  their  support,  durisg 
the  life  of  them  or  either  of  them  ;  and  further  to  pay  to 
Minnie  F.  Morse  and  Rosie  C.  Morse  each  $2,000  a  year, 
during  their  lives  respectively  until  marriage,  when  the  an- 
nuity of  the  one  marrying  shall  cease.  The  property  and 
estate  aforesaid  to  vest  absolutely  in  the  said  Lucy  and  her 
heirs,  forever,  subject  only  as  aforesaid  ;  and  the  said  trust 
shall  not  effect  her  right  freely  to  dispose  of  and  transfer 
any  such  property. 

2.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  G. 
Hooker,  stock  in  the  Narragansett  Steamship  Company  of 
the  par  value  of  $100,000,  for  her  sole  and  separate  use  for 
ever. 

3.  I  appoint  my  said  wife  and  my  friend  Eben  D.  Jor- 
dan, of  Boston,  executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal 

this  6th  day  of  January,  1872. 

James  Fisk,  Jr. 

Signed,  sealed,  published  and  declared  by  the  testator  to 
be  his  last  will  and  testament,  in  the  presence  of  us,  who 


472  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

have  hereto  subscribed  our  names  as  witnesses,  at  his 
request  and  in  his  presence,  and  in  the  presence  of  each 
other. 

Thomas  G.  Shearman,  316  West  22nd  st.,  N.  Y. 

Jay  Gould,  578  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

F.  Willis  Fisher,  M.  D.,  Grand  Central  Hotel. 

Fisk  was  always  fond  of  birds.  His  houses  and  his 
steamers  were  always  kept  alive  with  them.  A  month  or 
two  after  his  death,  the  little  songsters  belonging  to  the 
Narragansett  were  sold  at  auction.  There  were  250  of  them, 
and  a  large  crowd  had  assembled  at  the  Art  Rooms,  587 
Broadway,  to  take  part  in  the  sale,  or  to  gratify  curiosity 
Nearly  all  the  birds  had  been  named  by  their  owner.  They 
were  numbered  from  i  to  250,  and  sold  in  regular  order. 
No.  3,  Crazy  Bill,  brought  $7;  Charlie  Williams,  $5.50; 
Humpty  Dumpty,  $6.50;  Old  Billy,  $6.50;  Beauty,  $575  I 
Col.  Braine,  $6.50;  Robinson  Crusoe,  $6.00;  Charlie  Mc- 
Gowan,  $6.50;  Ben  Wood,  $6;  Jeff  Davis,  $6.25;  Mrs. 
Scudder,  $6.25;  Col.  Fisk,  Jr.,  $16.25;  Jay  Gould,  $8.50; 
Charles  Macintyre,  $7.50;  Hamilton  Fish,  $6.25;  Major 
ilitchcock,  $6.75  ;  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  $6 ;  A.  T.  Stewart, 
$6  ;  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  $6.50  ;  August  Belmont,  $6.25  ; 
Captain  Leslie,  $6.00 ;  "  Gus  "  Fuller  (named  after  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  and  Boston  Express  Company),  $7.50  ; 
Charles  Kimball,  $7  ;  Commodore  Tilton,  $10.50  ;  Sampson, 
$6.50  (a  very  strong  singer);  M.  R.  Simons,  $8  ;  Ben  Butler, 
$7.50;  Gen.  McClellan,  $6.50;  Dr.  Helmbold,  $6;  Wm.  M. 
Tweed,  $6;  Col.  Murphy,  $6;  Robert  Bonner,  $6.25  ;  Stokes, 
$7.50 ;  Gen.  Sheridan,  $7.25  ;  Gen.  Hammond,  $6 :  Dr. 
Tyng,  $9.50 ;  Gen.  Scott,  $6.75  ;  Commodore  Ringgold, 
$6.50;  Admiral  Farragut,  $6;  Top-Knot,  $7.50;  Blind  Tom, 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  473 

$475  ;  Schuyler  Colfax,  $6.50 ;  Senator  Revels,  $6.25  ;  and 
Gen.  Grant,  $7.50. 

A  number  of  birds  were  sold  at  $14,  $12,  $11,  $10,  $9,  and 
$8,  the  finest  singers  bringing  usually  the  highest  prices. 

At  12:45  the  music  box,  with  a  working  model  of  the 
steamer  Providence  attached,  made  to  order,  and  wrought 
in  solid  silver  and  gold,  and  costing  $2,500,  was  put  up. 
The  first  bid  was  $4,  decidedly  a  small  figure,  taking  into 
consideration  the  original  cost.  This  was  raised  to  $500. 
Other  bids  followed  until  $800  was  reached.  Then  the  sale 
rested. 

At  3  o'clock  bidding  was  resumed,  and  the  splendid  trinket 
was  finally  knocked  down  to  Miss  Nullie  Pierris,  an  actress 
and  singer  at  the  Grand  Opera  House,  for  $1,500. 

The  cages  containing  the  birds  were  of  gilt  brass,  very 
handsome,  and  worth  at  least  $5  each.  The  prices  realized 
for  birds  and  cages  ranged  from  $4.75  to  $16.25.  The  net 
proceeds  of  the  sale  were  $3,000. 

"  Pinion,"  the  New  York  correspondent  of  the  Boston 
Mechanics  Advertiser,  thus  wrote  to  his  paper  a  day  or  two 
after  Fisk's  death  : 

"  I  went  to  Boston  with  the  Ninth  Regiment,  last  year. 
As  near  as  I  could  judge,  the  people  of  Boston  thought  that 
Fisk  was  doing  the  thing  as  a  mere  act  of  bravado ;  but  it  is 
my  belief  that  they  were  greatly  mistaken.  Fisk's  first  rec- 
ognition in  regular  commercial  circles  was  in  Boston,  with 
Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  and  he  always  cherished  as  one  of  the 
bright  spots  of  his  life  this  partnership  in  a  heavy  and  re- 
spectable house.  Then  Boston,  pre-eminently  pious,  aristo- 
cratic Boston,  had  turned  up  its  nose  at  Fisk,  and  voted  him 
a  vulgar  parvenu.     Fisk  (than  whom  there  was  no  better 


474  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

judge  of  human  nature)  knew  that  much  of  this  verdict  was 
based  on  the  opinion  of  men  as  low  in  moral  status  as  him- 
self. There  is  no  doubt  that  he  wanted  to  snub  these  men, 
but,  seriously,  I  believe  that  he  felt  a  longing  to  be  recog- 
nized of  society  and  his  fellows,  a  desire  to  be  regarded  as 
Jim  Fisk  the  man,  rather  than  Jim  Fisk  the  monstrosity,  and 
I  think  he  desired  such  recognition  more  in  Boston  than 
anywhere  else.  I  really  believe  that  his  speech  in  the  Boston 
Theatre  was  from  the  heart,  and  it  spoke  the  yearning  of  a 
man  who  felt  himself  barred  out  from  men,  but  who  wanted 
to  open  a  heart  which  he  still  had  within  him,  and  take  all 
the  world  into  fellowship. 

<'  -Well — you  remember  the  advent  of  the  Ninth.  In  this 
city  their  reputation  is  not  second  to  that  of  the  '  Seventh.' 
The  Ninth  fairly  compelled  the  admiration  of  Boston,  and 
Fisk  was  delighted.  But  his  greatest  triumph  was  on  the 
night  when  the  superb  band  of  the  Ninth  played  on  the 
Common.  Of  course  you  remember  the  vast  assemblage 
which  congregated,  and  you  remember  the  music  which  the 
red-coated  musicians  made.  I  don't  believe  there  was  a 
man  in  the  band  who  did  not  share  the  desire  of  Fisk  to  im- 
press Boston  favorably,  and  they  all  played  splendidly. 
Levy  blew  his  cornet  as  he  never  did  before,  and  there  is 
no  disguising  the  fact  that  the  people  who  crowded  on  the 
Common  were  delighted.  Jim  was  happy  over  their  re- 
peated manifestations  of  approval.  He  cared  far  more  for 
them  than  for  the  so-called  upper  classes  who  had  tabooed 
him.  When  Levy  gave  the  final  blast  on  his  bugle,  a  Boston 
man  who  stood  near  the  stand  (you  remember  the  fight  over 
whether  the  Ninth  could  worship  on  Sunday)  cried  out: 
'Jim,  you  can  have  the  Common  to-morrow.' 

"Fisk   was  delighted.     He   turned  to  me   with  pleasure 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  4/5 

beaming  on  his  face,  and  said,  '  I  really  think  the  people 
of  this  town  would  vote  against  their  Council  if  they  had 
the  chance.' 

"  I  thought  (and  still  think)  the  same  way,  and  I  told  him 
so.  When  we  got  back  to  the  St.  James,  I  guess  Jim  was 
the  happiest  man  in  Boston  ;  not  because  he  had  spited  Bos- 
ton, but  because  he  thought  he  had  won  some  share  of  hon- 
est esteem  from  its  people." 

Fisk  heard,  two  or  three  winters  before  his  death,  that  a 
young  man  whom  he  had  befriended  was  lying  ill  at  his 
boarding-house.  He  went  to  see  the  sufferer  and  found  that 
he  was  not  properly  cared  for.  "  I  can't  see  a  Brattleboro 
boy  treated  this  way,"  said  Fisk.  He  sent  his  carriage  and 
a  nurse  to  the  young  man's  lodgings,  and  had  him  brought 
to  his  own  residence,  where  he  was  tenderly  cared  for  until 
he  had  thoroughly  recovered  his  health  and  strength. 

A  friend  met  Fisk  one  Saturday  afternoon  and  said  to  him, 
"  I  am  afraid  the  National  Savings  Bank  will  go  by  the 
board." 

"  How  much  do  they  want  to  float  'em  ?  "  said  Fisk. 

"  I  think  about  $40,000." 

"  Too  bad,"  said  Fisk,  "  to  let  that  bank  break.  Why,  if 
it  sho;ld  burst  up,  what  in  thunder  would  the  poor  police- 
men do  ?  You  know  them  poor  fellows  deposit  their 
money  in  the  National.  Tell  Hank  Smith  I'm  ready  with 
$5,000." 

The  next  day  Fisk  saw  Henry  Smith,  President  of  the 
Bank.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  venerable  Thurlow 
Weed.  The  three  walked  into  the  Metropolitan  Hotel. 
Mr.  Smith  was  in  great  distress. 


476  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

"  Here  Hank,"  said  the  impulsive  Prince  of  Erie,  "  dry  up, 
now,  and  tell  me  what  you  want." 

"  $40,000,  and  by  ten  o'clock  to-morrow  morning,"  was  the 
answer. 

"  You  shall  have  it." 

He  sent  for  Mr.  Bingham,  the  attorney  of  the  Erie  Com- 
pany, "  Bingham,"  said  he,  "  go  and  find  Comer.  Get  a 
good  accountant,  and  you  three  come  back  here. 

After  Mr.  Bingham  had  gone,  Fisk  asked  Smith,  "  Can  I 
get  into  the  bank  to-day  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Smith. 

The  accountant,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Bingham  and 
Comer,  were  soon  at  hand. 

"  Go  to  the  bank,"  said  Fisk,  "  Get  the  securities,  and 
bring  them  here.  Comer,  you  and  the  accountant  stay 
there  and  examine  the  books  and  report  to  me." 

When  the  securities  were  brought,  Fisk  sat  down,  rolled 
up  his  sleeves,  and  gave  them  a  rapid  examination. 

"  Some  of  these  ain't  worth  a  damn,  Hank,"  said  he  ;  "  but 
I  guess  we'll  fix  things.  Don't  worry.  To-morrow  morn- 
ing you  shall  have  the  money." 

Thurlow  Weed  rose  from  his  chair,  and  putting  his  arms 
around  the  stout  body  of  the  young  millionaire,  said  with  a 
choking  voice. 

"  Mr.  Fisk,  this  is  a  noble  act.  If  I  ever  hear  a  man  speak 
ill  of  you,  I  shall  feel  it  incumbent  upon  me,  old  as  I  am,  to 
knock  him  down  on  the  spot." 

The  next  morning  Fisk  sent  to  the  bank  by  the  hands  of 
his  trusty  friend  and  secretary,  Mr.  Comer,  $40,000  in  green- 
backs, and  the  bank  was  saved. 

Mr.  Borrowes,  of  the  Everett  House,  New  York,  and  the 


JAMES  FISK,  JR.  477 

Continental,  Long  Branch,  had  purchased  the  Maison  Dor6, 
on  Fourteenth  street,  and  was  fitting  it  up  at  great  expense. 
Fisk  heard  that  Borrowes  was  in  pecuniary  trouble.  One 
morning  he  went  to  Borrowes. 

"  I  have  come,  Mr.  Borrowes,  to  make  reparation  for  an 
injury  I  did  you  down  at  the  Branch.  My  presence  at  your 
hotel  drove  away  some  of  your  best  customers.  I  hear  you 
are  in  trouble.     Now  tell  me  all  about  it." 

The  hearer  was  taken  by  surprise,  but  recovering  from  his 
astonishment,  and  feeling  assured  by  the  manner  and  tone  of 
the  man  before  him  that  he  was  in  earnest,  he  made  a  brief 
statement  of  his  trouble. 

"  Send  that  mortgage  to  me,"  said  Fisk,"  and  I'll  Have  it 
transferred  on  Monday.     Don't  worry  yourself" 

This  was  Friday,  the  5th  of  January,  1872.  On  Saturday 
evening  he  was  assassinated. 

One  day  he  took  the  Police  Captain  of  his  precinct  into 
his  office,  and  said  to  him  :  "  Captain,  I  want  to  be  charit- 
able, and  I  don't  want  anybody  to  know  it.  I  want  what  I 
do  in  this  way  kept  out  of  the  newspapers.  I  know  there 
are  a  large  number  of  poor  widows  and  helpless  orphans  in 
this  ward,  and  no  one  ought  to  know  their  circumstances 
better  than  you.  Whenever  you  come  across  any  that  are 
really  needy  send  them  to  me,  and  each  family  can  have 
either  a  ton  of  coal  or  a  barrel  of  flour.  Yes,  they  can  have 
both  the  coal  and  the  flour  too,  if  they're  very  poor."  The 
captain  thanked  him  for  his  kind  offer,  and  promised  him  to 
attend  to  it.  As  he  was  taking  his  leave,  the  Colonel  called 
him  back  and  said :  "  And,  Captain,  if  you  hear  of  any  poor 
people  who  want  to  go  West  and  have  no  money,  you  can 
have  a  ticket  for  them  at  any  time.     Come  yourself  and  get 


478  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

it."  Captain  Killalee  informed  a  reporter  that  he  sent  over 
twenty  poor  widows  to  Colonel  Fisk,  to  each  of  whom  he 
gave  an  order  for  coal    or  flour,   and,  in  many  instances, 

both. 

t. 

\  great  deal  of  comment  was  made  by  papers  inimical  to 
Fisk  in  relation  to  his  having  gone  to  Brooklyn  to  obtain  an 
injunction  from  Judge  Pratt  forbidding  Stokes,  Mrs.  Mans- 
field, and  Mr.  James  Pooton,  a  well  known  journalist,  to  fur- 
nish for  publication  the  letters  of  Fisk  to  Josie.  It  was  stated 
that  Mr.  Pooton,  who  lived  in  Brooklyn,  had  been  joined  as 
a  defendant  simply  to  get  the  case  over  there,  and  that  there 
was  no  good  reason  why  he  should  be  made  a  defendant. 
The  fact  is  that  Mr.  Pooton  had  negotiated  to  furnish  the  let- 
ters for  publication,  and  was  in  the  very  act  of  carrying  out 
his  agreement  when  he  was  served  with  the  injunction  or- 
der, he  having  been  entirely  ignorant  in  the  meantime  that 
Fisk's  counsel  had  discovered  his  intention  or  had  applied  for 
an  injunction  against  him. 

[From  the  Chicago  Times.] 

A  reporter  of  the  Times  interviewed  Mr.  Frank  Lawlor,  a 
popular  and  talented  actor  of  this  city,  with  regard  to  a  very 
cruel  slander  which  has  been  published.  We  saw  the  article 
on  its  rounds ;  but  knowing  Mr.  Lawlor  to  be  no  such  man 
as  it  represented,  refrained  from  publishing  it.  The  writer 
of  this  boarded  for  several  months  at  the  Kirkwood  House, 
Washington,  with  Mr.  Lawlor  and  his  then  wife,  now  known 
as  Josephine  Mansfield,  Josephine  being  a  relative  of  the 
writer's  wife's  family.  We  frequently  sat  at  the  same  table 
with  them.  We  are  fully  prepared  to  indorse  Mr.  Lawlor's 
statement  with  regard  to  his  character,  and  to  Josephine 


^  JAMES   FISK,   JR.  4/9 

Mansfield's,  at  that  time.  They  were  both  looked  upon  as 
most  respectable  and  reputable  people,  and  Miss  Mansfield 
was  not  only  without  reproach,  morally,  but  when  we  sub- 
sequently heard  of  her  connection  with  Fisk,  we  could  not 
believe  it  possible,  for  we  had  previously  looked  upon  her 
as  not  only  a  strictly  virtuous  character,  but  an  exceedingly 
retiring  and  modest  woman,  as  respected  her  manner  and 
disposition. 

Reporter. — Have  you  any  objection,  Mr.  Lawlor,  to  give 
the  Times  a  statement  of  your  California  experience  for  pub- 
lication ? 

Mr.  Lawlor. — None  in  the  least,  now  that  I  have  been  so 
shamefully  slandered  and  stigmatized  as  a  blackmailer.  I 
had  intended  to  say  nothing  about  it,  and  have  refused  sev- 
eral newspaper  men  before,  as  I  did  not  want  my  name  mix- 
ed up  with  the  Fisk  affair,  and  wanted  to  say  nothing  to  in- 
jure Josephine,  but  it  is  no  more  than  right  that  I  protect 
my  own  character  now  that  it  has  been  assailed,  and  I  shall 
do  so  in  a  court  of  justice. 

R. — The  story  of  your  elopement  with  Josephine  was  not 
true  ? 

Mr.  L. — No,  sir.  In  the  first  place  I  was  never  in  San  Jos6, 
where  the  elopement  is  said  to  have-  occurred,  in  my  life.  I 
first  met  the  girl  about  1863.  She  was  young  pleasing,  and 
attractive,  and  at  that  time  good.  I  liked  her  very  well,  but 
had  no  engagement  with  her,  and  no  desire  to  marry.  Some 
time  in  1S64  I  went  ov^er  to  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  to  play 
an  engagement,  and  it  was  while  I  was  there  that  Warren 
and  his  wife  undertook  the  blackmailing  operation  on  the 
man  Perley.  I  was  not  in  the  State  of  California  at  the  time, 
and  can  prove  it.  Moreover,  I  never  saw  Perley  in  my  life 
to  know  him.     When  I  returned  to  San  Francisco,  Josie  told 


48o  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

me  all  about  it,  and  said  she  relied  on  me  for  protection 
that  she  did  not  know  her  step-father  and  mother  would  trj? 
to  make  money  off  Perley  by  using  her.  I  told  her  I  didn't 
know  how  I  was  going  to  protect  her  without  marrying  her, 
and  that  I  was  unable  to  do.  She  insisted,  and  finall}^  I  did 
marry  her  to  save  her  from  the  evil  influences  of  her  own 
parents. 

R. — Then  you  did  not  reside  with  her  mother  after  mar- 
riage? 

Mr.  L. — No.  From  that  day  to  this  I  have  never  spoken 
to  Warren,  nor  did  I  allow  Josie  to,  and  she  never  saw  her 
mother  but  once  after  that,  and  that  was  just  before  she  left 
California  for  New  York.  I  tried  to  keep  her  good  and 
pure,  and  for  two  years,  I  will  say  this  in  her  behalf,  no  wife 
ever  conducted  herself  more  properly  toward  her  husband 
than  she  did  to  me.  Before  we  married  I  told  her  that  she 
might  find  some  one  richer  than  me,  and,  indeed,  she  might 
have  married  almost  whom  she  pleased  in  San  Francisco  at 
that  time,  but  she  declared  she  had  rather  live  in  a  cottage 
with  me  than  in  a  palace  with  any  person  else.  I  was 
fond  of  her,  but  never  cared  for  her  so  much  but  that  I 
could  give  her  up  easily  when  I  found  that  she  was  going 
astray. 

R. — When  was  that? 

Mr.  L. — It  was  after  we  had  arrived  and  were  living  in  New 
York ;  I  had  some  reason  to  suspect  her,  and  told  her  one 
day  if  she  did  wrong  I  should  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
her;  I  saw  that  she  was  determined  to  do  wrong,  and  that  I 
could  not  stay  with  her  longer  without  becoming  the  laugh 
ing-stock  for  everybody  that  knew  us,  so  I  left. 

R. — When  was  that  ? 

Mr.  L. — Sometime  in  1868. 


JAMES    FISK,   JR.  48I 

R. — I  low  long  did  yuu  live  apart  before  you  were  di- 
vorced ? 

Mr.  L. — Several  months.  After  I  left  her  I  continued  to 
send  her  thirty  dollars  a  week  for  her  support,  until  I  had 
positive  proof  that  she  had  gone  astray,  and  then  I  stopped. 
I  told  her  as  long  as  she  would  live  a  virtuous  life  I  would 
send  her  money  for  her  support,  and  should  have  been  doing 
so  until  now,  probably,  if  she  had  behaved  herself. 

R. — Have  you  seen  her  since  your  divorce? 

Mr.  L. — I  have  not,  and  I  have  always  wanted  to  forget 
her,  and  not  have  my  name  connected  with  hers  any  longer. 
It  was  the  mistake  of  my  life  marrying  her,  but  any  person 
might  have  done  the  same.  But  I  have  no  ill  feelings  to- 
ward her.  and  do  not  wish  to  say  anything  that  will  injure 
her  more  than  she  is  hurt  already. 

R. — Have  you  been  "  interviewed  "  concerning  this  matter 
before  ? 

Mr.  L. — Never  before.  At  the  time  of  the  "black  Friday" 
the  Herald  sent  a  man  to  Albany  to  interview  me,  but  I  knew 
nothing  about  it,  and  told  him  so.  Since  Fisk  was  assassi- 
nated, the  Associated  Press  wished  to  interview  me.  They 
received  orders  from  New  York  to  that  effect,  but  I  did  not 
wish  my  name  connected  with  hers,  and  I  have  tried  all  I 
could  to  keep  out  of  the  affair. 

R. — One  question  more,  Mr.  Lawlor.  Concerning  your 
leaving  California? 

Mr.  L. — Yes,  it  is  published  that  Perley  ordered  me  out 
of  the  State  within  thirty  days,  on  penalty  of  death,  and  that 
Mr.  Maguire  discharged  me  from  his  company.  Both  of 
those  are  the  basest  falsehoods.  As  I  said,  I  never  saw  Per- 
ley to  know  him,  and  never  knew  that  he  ordered  me  out  of 
the  State,  if  he  did.     As  to  Mr.  Maguire,  it  is  a  sufficient 


482  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF  JAMES   FISK,   JR. 

denial  of  the  statement  that  he  discharged  me,  to  say  that  he 
tendered  me  his  oi>era-house,  just  before  I  started,  for  a 
benefit,  and  that  all  his  company  volunteered  their  assist- 
ance. It  was  the  largest  benefit  ever  given  in  that  city,  and 
it  gave  me  83,500  in  gold  clear  of  expenses.  Besides,  when 
I  came  away,  Mr.  Maguire  and  the  whole  theatre  company 
accompanied  me  to  the  depot.  My  character  stands  as  high 
in  San  Francisco  to-day  as  in  Albany,  my  native  city,  or 
anywhere  else  I  have  ever  lived,  and  there  is  not- a  public 
man  in  the  State  that  I  do  not  know,  and  by  whom  I  am  not 
respected.  Then  to  be  branded  as  a  blackmailer,  is  too 
much.  I  believe  Josie  was  entirely  innocent  of  the  black- 
mailing affair.  Had  I  not  believed  so,  I  should  not  have 
married  her.  To  show  you  how  I  am  regarded  by  the  peo- 
ple of  Albany,  where  I  was  born  and  raised,  I  will  say  that 
right  after  the  fire,  which  pretty  nearly  ruined  me  finan- 
cially, I  went  there  and  was  given  a  $2,800  benefit. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


COMMODORE     VANDERBILT. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  the  Railroad  King,  is  now  in  his 
76th  year,  although  he  has  the  appearance  of  a  man  of  55. 
He  is  over  six  feet  in  height,  is  strong  and  lusty,  and  bids 
fair  to  leave  his  hundredth  birthday  many  years  behind  him. 

The  "  Commodore,"  as  he  is  now  known  all  over  the 
world,  was  born  on  Staten  Island  in  1797.  His  father  was  a 
waterman  and  was  engaged  in  running  a  little  sail-boat  be- 
tween Staten  Island  and  New  York,  making  his  landing  at 
the  Battery  (Whitehall).  When  Cornelius  was  a  child  he 
made  frequent  trips  with  his  father,  and,  as  his  size  and 
strength  increased,  he  became  very  useful  to  Vanderbilt,  Sr. 
Cornelius  took  naturally  to  the  water,  and  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen began  life  on  his  own  account  as  a  Whitehall  boatman. 
During  the  war  of  18 12  he  made  himself  very  useful  to  the 
government  by  carrying  despatches  to  and  from  the  forts  and 
ships  in  the  harbor,  and  became  celebrated  for  his  boldness 
and  utter  insensibihty  to  fear.  No  storm  could  deter  him 
from  making  a  trip  that  he  had  promised  to  make,  and  he 
was  never  known  to  disappoint  those  who  employed  him. 

Just  after  the  repulse  of  the  British  in  September,  18 13,  in 
their  attempt  to  run  up  the  channel,  Vanderbilt  was  ap- 
proached by  the  commandant  of  one  of  the  harbor  forts.  It 
was  a  very  stormy  day,  and  young  Cornelius  was  resting  at 

(483) 


484  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

the  Fort,  having  only  a  short  time  before  come  down  with 
despatches  from  New  York. 

"  I  want  to  go  to  the  city  at  once,"  said  the  officer.  "  Will 
you  risk  the  trip  ?" 

"  I'm  ready  as  soon  as  you  are,  Major,"  said  Cornelius. 
"  You  must  expect  rough  times,  but  I  guess  we  can  make 
Coffee-House  Slip  all  right." 

The  little  craft  was  soon  on  her  way.  The  Major's  fellow- 
officers  had  begged  him  to  delay  a  few  hours  until  the  storm 
should  subside,  and  Vanderbilt's  friends,  the  boatmen,  had 
tried  hard  to  convince  him  that  this  would  be  his  last  run, 
but  remonstrances  and  predictions  were  alike  unavailing. 
The  two  adventurous  men—  or  rather  the  man  and  the  boy» 
for  Cornelius  was  now  only  sixteen  years  old — were  not  to 
be  detained.  The  Major  wished  to  hurry  to  New  York  for 
reinforcements  for  his  garrison — this  was  before  the  days  of 
the  telegraph — and  the  young  boatman  wished  to  keep  his 
word.  They  made  the  voyage  in  safety.  Cornelius'  was  lib- 
erally rewarded,  and  during  the  continuance  of  the  war  was 
always  the  first  boatman  called  for  by  the  officers  in  want  of 
transportation  to  and  from  the  city  and  the  forts. 

As  soon  as  steamboats  began  to  ply  regularly  on  the  Hud- 
son, Vanderbilt,  after  having  married,  sold  his  sailing  vessels 
and  entered  the  service  of  Thomas  Gibbons,  who  owned  a 
steamer  running  between  New  York  and  New  Brunswick. 
He  advanced  rapidly  in  a  knowledge  of  his  new  business, 
and  was  soon  put  in  command  of  the  steamer.  While  he 
was  occupied  on  the  water  his  thrifty  wife  managed  a  profit- 
able hotel  at  New  Brunswick,  and  by  the  exercise  of  that 
prudence  and  economy  which  always  characterized  the  pair, 
their  few  thousands  were  before  many  years  turned  over,  until 
the  Vanderbilts  were  known  far  and  wide  as  comfortably  rich. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  485 

For  twelve  years  Captain  Vanderbilt  remained  with  Thomas 
Gibbons.  During  this  period  occurred  that  remarkable  con- 
test between  Gibbons  and  the  millionaire  Stevens  for  supre- 
macy in  the  waters  of  New  York.  Many  flattering  induce- 
ments were  held  out  to  Captain  Vanderbilt  by  the  Stevenses, 
but  he  would  not  desert  his  old  friend  and  employer,  and  in 
the  end  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  come  out  of  the 
fight  with  flying  colors. 

About  1828  or  1830,  he  built  the  little  steamer  Caroline, 
which  was  afterwards  seized  at  Ogdensburg  by  a  party  of 
Canadian  raiders  and  driven  over  Niagara  Falls.  This  act 
gave  rise  to  extensive  diplomatic  correspondence  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  and  well-nigh  created 
a  war  between  the  two  countries. 

Steamboat  after  steamboat  was  built,  until  in  1840  he  was 
acknowledged  as  the  "  Steamboat  King"  of  the  world.  He 
had  already  built  two  or  three  steamships,  but  as  the  com- 
merce between  Europe  and  the  United  States  increased,  and 
there  was  a  consequent  demand  for  increased  means  of  trans- 
portation, he  paid  more  attention  to  sea-going  vessels  and 
became  in  time  the  proud  owner  of  a  fleet.  In  1861,  after 
having  presented  a  steamship  to  the  government,  his  floating 
stock  consisted  of  33  first-class  steamboats  and  17  magnifi- 
cent steamships,  worth  in  the  aggregate  millions  of  dollars. 
At  this  time  he  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  railroads,  of 
which  he  now  owns  four,  the  Harlem,  the  Hudson  River,  the 
New  York  Central  and  the  New  Jersey  Central,  besides  hav- 
ing a  leading  voice  in  the  management  of  several  others. 
By  the  legitimate  earnings  of  these  roads  his  fortune  has 
been  swollen  to  a  fabulous  amount,  but  when  it  is  considered 
that  he  has  manipulated  the  stock  in  Wall  street  so  as  fre- 
quently to  make  millions  in  an  hour,  it  may  be  readily  in- 


486  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

ferred  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  even  the  Commodore 
himself  to  give  an  estimate  of  his  wealth  which  should  ap- 
proximate the  truth.  It  is  probable  that  he  is  worth  between 
S6o,ooo,ooo  and  f8o,C)00,oc)0,  although  many  shrewd  business 
men  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  $100,000,000  would  be 
nearer  the  mark. 

Commodore  Vanderbilt  is  a  man  of  great  natural  intelli- 
gence. He  is  very  abrupt  in  his  manner,  and  except  to  per- 
sonal friends  is  generally  intensely  selfish.  He  never  acts 
without  due  deliberation,  and  rarely  makes  a  mistake.  In 
his  dealings  with  the  world  on  a  large  scale,  he  has  met  with 
only  three  men  whom  he  feared — Daniel  Drew,  Jay  Gould, 
and  James  Fisk,  Jr.  When  Fisk's  name  began  to  be  heard 
in  Wall  street,  the  Commodore  said  to  one  of  his  many 
agents : 

"Who  is  this  Fisk?" 

"  I  understand  that  he  is  one  of  Drew's  pets." 

**  Then  we  must  kill  him  off,"  said  the  Commodore.  "  He's 
too  sharp  for  a  greenhorn,  and  too  bold  for  an  old  hand.  I 
don't  know  what  to  make  of  him." 

The  effort  to  "  kill  Fisk  off"  was  a  disgraceful  failure.  The 
young  adventurer  was  a  match  for  the  veteran,  and  on  more 
than  one  occasion  his  dlaji  and  dash  sent  him  far  in  advance 
of  the  Commodore  in  his  assaults  on  the  money  changers  of 
Wall  street. 

Although  the  Commodore  is  indebted  to  Wall  street  for 
millions  of  his  capital,  he  holds  it  in  slight  esteem,  but  be- 
lieves that  the  dealers  in  that  busy  mart  are  nearly  all  scoun- 
drels. 

"  Keep  out  of  Wall  street,"  was  his  advice  to  one  of  his 
young  relatives  who  proposed  to  purchase  a  certain  amount 
of  stock  for  a  rise. 


COMMoDOr.E    VANDE1U5ILT. 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  489 

"  But,  this  is  a  dead  sure  thing.  I'll  put  up  ?'25,ooo,  and 
I  want  you  to  match  me.     We  can  clear  $20,000  right  off." 

"  Keep  out  of  Wall  street,"  said  the  Commodore. 

The  young  man  invested  his  825,000  and  cleared  -10,000. 

He  came  again :  "  Now,  Commodore,  I'm  going  to  put  up 
850,000  and  try  it  again.     Will  you  go  in  ?" 

"  No!  "  thundered  the  Commodore.  "  I  tell  you,  keep  out 
of  Wall  street,  or  you  '11  be  burnt." 

Again  the  young  man  ventured,  and  again  he  won.  He 
was  elated  with  his  success.  Once  more  he  called  upon  the 
Commodore  and  urged  him  to  cooperate  with  him. 

"  For  the  last  time,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  with  a  snap 
and  a  scowl ;  "  for  the  last  time,  I  tell  you  to  keep  out  of 
Wall  street.  Invest  your  money  in  some  legitimate  business, 
and  you  'II  have  enough  to  keep  you  comfortable  for  life. 
Invest  in  Wall  street,  and  those  thieves  will  strip  3'ou  naked, 
you  d d  fool." 

If  there  is  one  thing  the  Commodore  dislikes  worse  than 
another,  it  is  to  have  his  advice  disregarded,  and  he  rarely 
fails  to  punish  the  unhappy  wight  who  thus  flouts  him.  As 
his  3^oung  relative  left  him  on  this  occasion,  the  angry  old 
gentleman  sent  for  one  of  his  brokers. 

"  Look  here.  Smith,"  said  he,  "  Sam  is  going  into  the  street 
to  put  up  every  cent  he  has  in  the  world  on  Salt  Island. 
What  is  the  stock  to-day  ?  " 

"  Thirty,"  said  Smith. 

"  Then  go  right  down,  buy  all  you  can  get  at  30,  and  be- 
fore night  see  that  you  have  run  it  down  to  20.  If  the 
d d  fool  won't  be  advised,  let  him  suffer." 

Sam  went  home  that  night  a  ruined  man,  although  in  order 
to  rum  hmi  the  Commodore  spent  a  little  fortune,  all  of 
which  he  recovered,  of  course,  in  a  few  days. 
28 


490  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Six  or  seven  years  ago,  Commodore  Vanderbilt  celebrated 
his  golden  wedding.  No  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  forty 
of  his  descendants  surrounded  him  on  that  happy  occasion. 
Eight  daughters  and  five  sons,  with  a  little  regiment  of  their 
children,  formed  the  party.  One  year  afterward,  he  lost  his 
youngest  son,  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  promise,  who 
died  of  disease  contracted  while  serving  in  the  army,  during 
the  Rebellion. 

The  Commodore  is  fond  of  whist,  and  extravagantly  fond  of 
horses.  His  stables  contain  many  of  the  finest  animals  in  the 
country,  his  "  Mountain  Boy  "  occupying  such  quarters  as 
only  a  prince  is  supposed  to  provide  for  the  favorite  of  his 
stud. 

He  is  not  at  all  ostentatious.  His  servants  wear  no  livery. 
He  drives  himself  down  town  every  day  from  his  plam  resi- 
dence, on  Washington  square,  to  his  plainer  office,  near  the 
Bowling  Green,  where  he  transacts  an  immense  amount  of 
business.  He  talks  but  little  in  regard  to  his  affairs,  and  has 
a  supreme  contempt  for  what  he  calls  "  gabblers." 

Mrs.  Vanderbilt  died  about  five  years  ago,  after  the  loss 
of  her  youngest  son.  The  Commodore  remained  a  widower 
until  the  spring  of  1869,  when  he  married  a  beautiful  and 
talented  young  lady  of  Mobile,  Alabama.  At  her  suggestion, 
he  himself  rarely  taking  any  interest  in  religious  affairs,  he 
purchased  a  church  in  Winthrop  place,  which  he  gave  in 
trust  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Deems,  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the 
Strangers,  by  which  name  the  church  is  now  known. 

A  few  years  ago,  he  purchased  for  $1,000,000  what  was 
once  known  as  St.  John's  Park,  on  which  he  erected  the 
largest  freight  depot  in  the  world,  forming  the  city  terminus 
of  his  Hudson  River  Railroad.  In  1868,  the  celebrated 
"Vanderbilt   bronzes"  on  the  Hudson  street  front  of  the 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  49I 

biiildinf^,  were  iinvailed  in  presence  of  thousands  of  people. 
The  statue  of  the  Commodore  and  the  accompanying  fig-ures, 
all  symbolical  of  the  Railroad  King's  occupations  in  life,  the 
whole  telling  the  story  of  his  career  from  youth  to  old  age, 
from  poverty  to  affluence,  were  designed  by  Albert  Degroot 
and  executed  under  his  immediate  supervision.  The  same 
artist  designed  and  cast  the  statue  of  Franklin,  in  Printing 
House  square,  and  presented  it  to  the  city  of  New  York  on 
Franklin's  birthday,  January  17th,  1872. 

Toward  the  close  of  1871,  Vanderbilt  opened  the  great 
Union  Depot  of  the  Harlem,  Hudson  River,  and  New  York 
Central  Railroads,  on  Fourth  avenue,  the  largest  passenger 
depot  in  the  world.  The  ground  and  the  building  cost  be- 
tween $3,000,000  and  $4,000,000. 


DANIEL    DREW. 

This  shrewd,  cunning,  crafty,  yet  devotedly  pious,  financier 
was  born  at  Carmel,  Putnam  County,  New  York,  on  the  night 
of  July  29th,  1797.  Carmel  has  for  nearly  a  century  been 
considered  the  paradise  of  showmen.  From  very  early  times 
its  male  inhabitants  were,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  engaged 
in  the  circus  and  menagerie  business.  When,  after  their 
many  seasons  of  travel  with  horse,  lion,  monkey,  elephant, 
bear,  dancing  woman,  clown,  and  gymnast,  they  had  made 
the  fortune  which  was  the  grand  ambition  of  the  Carmelite, 
they  almost  invariably  came  back  to  the  banks  of  Lake 
Glcncida,  and  pitched  their  tents  for  life.  There  are  dozens 
of  old  showmen  in  and  around  Carmel  to-day — men  who 
have  traveled  through  every  populous  district  of  this  country 
and  Europe,  and  who  can  tell  more  about  the  wild  beasts  of 


492  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

the  world  than  all  the  Du  Chaillus  and  Livingstones  that  ever 
shot  gorilla  or  stuffed  chimpanzee. 

Daniel  Drew  began  life  a  poor  boy.  He  went  to  school  a 
little  while,  but  spent  most  of  his  younger  days  in  gambol- 
ling with  the  monkeys  of  the  menagerie,  and  in  riding  circus 
horses  to  water.  "* 

At  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  Daniel  went  for  a  sol- 
dier. This  was  during  our  war  of  1 8 12-14,  with  Great 
Britain.  No  sooner  was  Daniel  appointed  to  the  command 
of  a  flint-lock  musket,  carrying  one  ball  and  three  buckshot, 
than  he  proceeded  by  forced  marches  to  Fort  Gansevoort, 
on  the  Hudson,  where  he  served  until  peace  was  declared. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  tramped  back  to  Carmel,  where 
he  bought  a  few  head  of  cattle.  Having  made  a  little  money, 
he  began  the  cattle  business  on  a  larger  scale,  and  loves  to 
tell  how  proud  he  was  when  overreaching  the  sharp  drovers, 
who  congregated  at  the  yard  where  the  Bowery  Theatre 
stands  now.  In  1829,  having  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Henry  Astor,  a  brother  of  John  Jacob,  and  known  every- 
where as  Butcher  Astor,  he  borrowed  a  few  thousands,  and 
entered  still  more  extensively  into  the  cattle  trade.  He 
made  his  head-quarters  at  the  old  Bull's  Head  Tavern,  on  the 
corner  of  Fourth  avenue  and  Twenty-fourth  street,  where  he 
sold  thousands  of  cattle  and  made  thousands  of  dollars.  He 
was  spoken  of  as  an  excellent  landlord  and  as  one  of  the 
shrewdest  dealers  within  the  Hmits  of  old  Gotham. 

In  1835,  meeting  with  Isaac  Newton,  who  wanted  a  part- 
ner in  the  steamboat  business  on  the  Hudson,  he  struck 
hands  with  that -famous  pioneer,  and  the  two  founded  a  line 
of  steamers  between  New  York  and  Albany,  in  opposition  to 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  then  plain  Captain  Vanderbilt,  but 
nevertheless  a  strong  man  to  oppose.     Vanderbilt  was  charg- 


JAMES   KISK,   JR.  493 

ing  dirce  dollars  fare  from  New  York  to  Albany.  Drew 
added  five  fine  boats  to  his  fleet  in  rapid  succession,  and  put 
down  the  fare  to  one  dollar.  Vanderbilt  saw  that  he  had  a 
determined  man  to  deal  with,  so  he  made  a  proposition  that 
they  should  combine  their  interests.  Out  of  the  compromise 
that  resulted  grew  the  celebrated  "  People's  Line,"  of  which 
Drew,  Vanderbilt,  Newton,  and  Eli  Kclley,  were  the  prin- 
cipal owners. 

Drew  next  glided  from  steamboats  to  railroads,  and  then 
into  Wall  street,  where  he  soon  became  known  as  the  King 
of  the  Bears.  In  his  stock  speculations,  he  was  ever  one  of 
the  most  unscrupulous  men  on  the  street,  and  he  seemed  to 
glory  in  the  fact.  When  detected  in  a  trick,  he  would  whine 
and  repent;  but  it  would  not  be  long  before  his  victim 
would  discover  that  the  wily  trickster  was  busily  plotting  to 
overthrow  him  again.  Many  a  stock  gambler  has  been 
brought  to  grief  by  Daniel  Drew ;  but  into  his  cold  heart 
has  never  yet  crept  one  sentiment  of  pity  for  the  victim  ot 
his  duplicity.     Of  course,  such  a  man  must  be  a  coward. 

"  Where  is  that  damned  hoary-headed  old  hypocrite  ? " 
thundered  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  as  he  stalked  into  Drew's 
office  one  day,  after  having  been  badly  sold  by  his  quondam 
partner.     "  Where  is  the " 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  all  that  the  Commodore 
said.  Uncle  Daniel  was  hiding  under  his  counter.  His 
clerks  were  trembling  in  their  boots.  The  Commodore 
stormed  at  a  terrible  rate,  but  at  last  there  came  a  lull. 

"  Did  you  mean  me,  Commodore  ?  "  asked  a  meek  voice,  as 
Daniel  Drew's  head  appeared  from  beneath  the  counter.  "  I 
wish  you  would  n't  use  such  awful  language.  You  had  n't 
ought  to  do  it.  Commodore.     It  isn't  right,  by  no  means." 

In  1850,  in  conjunction  with  Vanderbilt,  Drew  bought  the 


494  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Stonington  and  Boston  Railroad.  Selling  out  his  interest 
therein,  in  1856,  he  became  interested  in  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  then  in  great  pecuniary  difficulty,  and  advanced 
several  millions  to  help  them  out.  The  story  of  what  re- 
sulted from  this  seeming  kindness  of  Mr.  Drew  has  been 
fully  told  in  another  part  of  this  volume.  Subsequently  he 
and  the  Commodore  got  nearly  all  the  stock  into  their  hands, 
and  Drew  was  said  for  a  long  time  to  "  carry  Erie  in  his 
breeches  pocket." 

In  1857,  Drew  and  Vanderbilt  got  possession  of  the  Harlem 
River  Railroad;  but,  in  1864,  the  Commodore  "cornered 
Drew  on  Harlem,"  and  took  about  $1,000,000  from  him  dur- 
ing the  week.  Some  time  afterward.  Drew  had  his  revenge. 
He  secured  an  over-issue  of  Erie  stock,  and,  with  the  aid  of 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  punished  the  Commodore  by  taking  from  his 
well-filled  coffers  no  less  than  $8,000,000  by  his  celebrated 
"bear"  movement. 

Great  as  Daniel  Drew  is  in  stock-gambling,  cattle  dealing, 
steamboating,  and  railroading,  he  is  greater  far  as  a  religion- 
ist of  the  intense  type.  When  in  this  city  he  attends  church 
at  St.  Paul's,  on  Fourth  avenue,  where  he  may  be  seen  every 
Sunday,  handing  the  plate  around  for  the  pennies  of  the 
pious.  He  built  a  monumental  church  at  Carmel,  which  he 
named  after  himself,  and  which  is  under  the  charge  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Clapp,  his  son-in-law.  He  also  endowed  a  Young 
Ladies'  Seminary  at  Carmel,  and  this  institution,  by  the 
terms  of  his  donation,  must  be  conducted  on  the  most  pious 
principles.  His  greatest  work  in  behalf  of  religion,  however, 
was  the  endowment  of  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  at 
Madison,  New  Jersey,  which  has  already  cost  him  more  than 
half  a  million. 

Mr.  Drew  is  about  six  feet  high,  thin  and  stoop-shouldered. 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  495 

He  has  been  married  since  1821,  and  his  wife,  a  most  estima- 
ble lady,  is  still  living  at  the  country  scat  at  Carmel.  He 
has  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter,  the  former  his  land 
agent,  the  latter  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clapp. 

Daniel  Drew's  property  is  variously  valued  at  from  $15, 000,- 
000  to  $40,000,000. 

JAY     GOULD. 

Jay  Gould's  name  has  for  some  years  been  inseparable 
from  that  of  Fisk.  The  men  were  totally  different  in  their 
natures.  While  Fisk  was  extremely  impetuous,  and  relied 
for  guidance  on  his  intuition,  Gould  is  preeminently  a  man 
of  reason.  He  is  always  cool  and  deliberate  in  his  action, 
and  whatever  he  does  is  the  result  of  carefully  considered 
and  well-matured  plans.  As  a  financier  he  was  well  known 
long  before  Fisk  entered  the  arena.  His  cool,  concentrated 
powers  were  considered  by  the  general  public  as  a  fitting 
balance  to  the  dashing  qualities  of  Fisk  ;  but  later  events 
tend  to  show  that  he  deliberately  planned  to  allow  Fisk  to 
become  the  notorious  nxin  in  order  that,  should  events  go 
against  them,  he  (Gould)  might  escape  the  odium  which 
might  attach  to  their  transactions.  He  was  a  man  of  won- 
derful ability,  the  keenest  powers  of  analysis,  and  superb 
j'udgment  and  skill  in  manipulation,  but  in  nowise  a  man 
of  great  executive  ability.  His  connection  with  the  Erie 
Road  is  fully  explained  in  another  part  of  this  book.  Mr. 
Gould  is  a  man  about  five  feet  five  inches  in  height,  straight 
and  slender.  His  hair  is  coal-black,  as  are  his  long  beard 
and  moustaches.  He  has  very  keen  black  eyes,  and  his 
whole  expression  is  of  a  Jewish  cast.  He  has  a  quiet, 
deliberate  speech,  and  never  outwardly  shows  signs  of  excite- 


49^  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

ment.  When  irritated  or  excited,  the  only  visible  manifesta- 
tion of  his  mood  is  in  his  tearing  paper  into  little  bits,  which 
he  scatters  on  the  floor.  He  wholly  lacks  that  manliness 
which  Avas  undoubtedly  the  underlying  stratum  of  Fisk's 
character,  and  the  best  exemplification  of  this  fact  is  shown 
in  the  following  statement  of  how,  at  the  last,  he  served  a 
friend  who  had  for  years  stood  by  him  through  thick  and 
thin,  and  suffered  all  manner  of  reproach  in  his  behalf. 

Two  weeks  before  his  death.  Colonel  Fisk  resigned  his 
position  as  Vice-President  of  the  Erie  Railway  Company, 
and  for  a  reason  very  little  dreamed  of.  He  was  not,  as  is 
generally  supposed,  the  leader  of  the  Erie  Ring,  although 
he  was  always  ready  to  stand  in  the  forefront  and  take  the 
responsibility  for  anything  that  was  done.  It  has  leaked  out 
that  his  share  of  the  Ring  spoils  was  very  small.  He  was 
favorably  disposed  toward  a  compromise  with  the  English 
stockholders,  but  his  first  dut}^  he  thought,  was  to  those 
whom  he  considered  his  friends,  and  at  their  instance  he 
never  hesitated  to  act  as  the  scapegoat  of  the  Ring  and  take 
all  the  obloqu}'  to  himself  which  his  fellows  should  have 
divided  on  account  of  his  actions  at  law. 

About  a  month  before  the  assassination  of  Colonel  Fisk, 
Jay  Gould  and  another  director  who  had  garnered  the 
greater  part  of  the  money  crop  harvested  by  the  Erie  Ring, 
feeling  that  the  overthrow  of  Tammany  must  inevitably  re- 
sult in  their  own  destruction,  together  with  that  of  all  their 
confederates,  unless  som.e  one  of  their  number  could  be  in- 
duced to  shoulder  the  weight  of  their  crimes,  resolved  that 
Fisk  should  be  approached  and  induced  to  resign.  His  re- 
signation, they  knew,  would  have  the  effect  of  breaking  the 
force  of  the  stonn  of  indignation  which  was  certain,  sooner 
or  later,  to  burst  upon  them  ;  and,  once  out  of  the  Ring,  on 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  497 

his  own  volition,  he  would  be  powerless,  and  the  whole  guilt 
of  their  nefarious  actions  would  be  fastened  upon  him. 

At  first,  Gould,  although  Fisk's  most  intimate  friend,  and 
of  all  men,  best  acquainted  with  his  moods,  best  able  to  work 
upon  his  easy  nature,  was  afraid  to  approach  him.  He  pre- 
vailed upon  Frederick  A.  Lane  to  risk  a  meeting  with  the 
impetuous  Colonel.  Lane  called  upon  Fisk  and  opened  the 
subject.  He  had  hardly  advanced  beyond  the  threshold  of 
his  introduction  before  Fisk  started  to  his  feet  in  a  rage. 

"  Look  here,  Lane !  If  Gould  sent  you  to  me,  go  back  to 
him  and  say  that  I  will  never  talk  to  anybody  else  on  a  sub- 
ject in  which  he  is  concerned.  Go  back  to  him  and  tell  him 
that  when  Jim  Fisk  is  to  hear  anything  from  Jay  Gould,  Jay 
Gould  must  come  and  say  it  in  person." 

The  message  was  delivered  and  Gould  entered  the  Vice- 
President's  room.  As  he  advanced  toward  the  desk  at  which 
Fisk  sat  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  be  began  hastily  tearing  up  paper 
into  small  bits  and  scattering  them  upon  the  floor — an  opera- 
tion, which,  as  Fisk  well  knew,  betokened  a  stirring  contest 
in  the  mind  of  his  associate. 

"  Fisk,"  said  Gould,  as  he  took  a  seat  near  the  desk  ;  "  I've 
come  to  talk  to  you  on  a  more  delicate  and  painful  subject 
than  I  have  ever  been  called  upon  to  broach  to  you  since  we 
have  had  dealings  together." 

"  Gould,"  said  Fisk,  as  he  turned  and  looked  the  other  full 
in  the  eye,  while  his  cheek  blanched  and  his  heart  throbbed 
with  emotion  hard  to  suppress,  "  blurt  it  out.  Don't  be 
afraid  of  hurting  my  feelings.     Blurt  it  out  !  " 

"  The  time  has  come,"  said  Gould,  still  tearing  the  bits  of 
paper  in  his  hand,  "  when  we  must  begin  to  set  our  house  in 
order.  We  are  on  the  eve  of  a  great  trouble  ;  and  the  only 
thing  that  can  prevent  utter  annihilation  for  the  whole  of  us 
is  your  resignation  as  Vice-President  of  the  Company." 


498  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

Fisk  looked  his  old  companion  in  the  face  for  several 
moments. 

"  If  you  have  the  heart  to  ask  this  after  all  I  have  done 
for  you,"  said  Fisk,  with  a  sob  rising  to  his  throat,  "  I'll  show 
you  that  I  have  the  pluck  to  do  it." 

As  he  spoke  he  put  his  head  down  upon  the  desk  and  cried 
like  a  child. 

Suddenly  rising  from  his  seat  with  a  flushed  face,  and 
bringing  his  fist  down  upon  the  desk,  he  exclaimed : 

"  You  have  asked  for  my  resignation.  If  you  have  the 
heart  to  write  it,  give  it  to  me  and  I  will  sign  it." 

The  document  had  been  already  prepared.  It  lay  upon 
Gould's  desk  in  the  next  room.  Gould  stepped  in  and 
brought  it  to  the  Colonel,  who,  seizing  a  pen,  affixed  his 
signature  to  it.  Then  putting  on  his  coat  and  hat,  he  left 
the  I'oom  without  a  word.  He  had  braved  public  opinion, 
and  suffered  disgrace  for  the  sake  of  his  friends.  They  had 
repaid  him  by  striking  him  a  harder  blow  than  he  had  ever 
received  from  an  enemy. 

Fisk's  resignation  is  now  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Erie 
Railway  Company.  That  which  covers  it  to-day,  before  the 
snow  has  melted  from  his  grave,  bears  the  signature  of 
Jay  Gould.  On  the  17th  of  March,  1872,  he  resigned  as 
Director. 

WILLIAM    M.    TWEED. 

William  M.  Tweed  was  born  April  3,  1816,  in  the 
"  Bloody  Sixth"  ward  of  the  city  of  New  York.  His  father 
was  a  chairmakcr.  The  son  was  apprenticed  to  his  father, 
but  he  never  showed  any  inclination  for  work.  He  much 
preferred  the  company  of  dissolute  companions,  and  he  did 
not  serve  out  his  apprenticeship  ;  though  he  subsequently 


JAMKS   MSK,   JR.  499 

entered  the  business  and  failed.  He  took  naturally  to  politi- 
cal life,  and  at  an  early  age  was  on  terms  of  friendship  with 
the  politicians  of  his  ward.  lie  was  popular  witii  his  fellows 
and  was  soon  elected  foreman  of  Six  Engine  Company,  which 
was  known  as  "  Big  Six,"  which  title  was  subsequently  ap- 
plied to  Tweed.  Big  Six  was  the  terror  of  the  ward,  and  in 
the  days  of  hand  engines,  Tweed  and  his  boys  bore  off  the 
palm  in  the  bloody  fights  which  were  of  frequent  occurrence. 
His  popularity  constantly  increased  and  he  was  elected  to 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  then  to  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors. He  graduated  from  the  Columbia  Law  School,  and 
for  a  short  time  practiced  law  ;  but  politics  was  ifiore  to  his 
liking,  and  he  soon  became  practically  the  chief  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  New  York  City.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  and  soon  after  became  known  for  his  superior 
executive  abilities.  He  planned  political  campaigns  in  the 
city,  and  by  the  aid  of  other  men  as  unscrupulous  as  himself, 
inaugurated  that  system  of  "  repeating  "  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  doubtful  wards,  whk:h  earned  for  him  the  foul  name 
he  deserved.  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Street 
Opening  Commission,  in  which  capacity  he  developed  fully 
his  utter  disregard  for  honesty,  and  perpetrated  some  of  the 
most  unblushing  frauds  which  ever  disgraced  the  party. 
But  he  was  popular  and  powerful,  and  he  was  sent  to  the 
State  Senate  from  the  Fourth  District  of  the  cit}'.  Soon 
after,  he  founded  the  Americus  Club,  of  which  he  was,  and 
is,  the  President.  This  club  located  itself  at  Greenwich, 
Conn.,  where  it  has  an  extensive  establishment  of  regal 
splendor.  Its  members  were  politicians,  and  the  club  was 
the  real  power  which  controlled  New  York  City.  While 
many  of  its  members  were  men  of  the  most  inferior  grade, 
still  they  could  command  votes,  and  that  was  enougii.     The 


50O  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF 

money  so  prodigally  spent  by  the  club  and  by  its  members 
individually,  was  plundered  from  the  people,  either  by  the 
aid  of  bills  engineered  through  the  Legislature  by  Tweed, 
or  received  as  bribes  from  parties  interested  in  the  passage 
of  bills.  In  the  spring  of  1869,  Tweed  made  his  coup  d'etat. 
It  was  the  passage  of  the  new  charter  for  the  cit}^  of  New 
York,  dividing  its  government  into  bureaux,  and  giving  each 
head  of  a  bureau  actual  and  full  control.  Tweed  took  the 
Department  of  Public  Works,  and  then  began  that  unprece- 
dented era  of  plundering  which  brought  disgrace  upon  the 
city,  and  ultimately  resulted  in  the  downfall  of  Tweed. 

Tweed  is  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height,  broad-shouldered 
and  very  strongly  built.  His  hair  is  a  mixed  sandy  and 
gray,  and  he  is  somewhat  bald.  His  full  beard  is  nearly 
gray.  His  eyes  are  of  the  same  color.  His  nose  is  the  most 
prominent  feature  of  his  face,  being  very  large  and  long. 
His  forehead  is  broad,  and  exceptionally  high,  giving  him 
the  appearance  of  a  "long-headed  man."  His  whole  face  in- 
dicates great  strength.  He  is  very  much  averse  to  speech- 
making,  but  is  a  marvellous  presiding  officer,  displaying 
great  tact  in  handling  a  meeting,  and  marvellous  speed  and 
accuracy  in  his  decisions.  His  executive  ability  is  of  the 
very  highest  order,  and  this  has  been  his  tower  of  strength. 

He  was  for  a  long  time  a  Director  in  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  from  which  he  was  ousted  because  of  the  impres- 
sion that  then  existed,  that  the  "  Boss"  of  Tammany,  who 
had  been  kicked  from  his  throne  on  the  discovery  of  his 
giant  frauds  in  the  City  government,  must  have  had  a  hand 
in  swindling  the  stockholders  of  Erie. 

Tweed  is  very  intense  in  his  likes  and  dislikes,  and  while 
he  never  forgets  an  enemy,  he  never  failed  to  reward  a 
friend.     He  has  troops  of  friends  and  thousands  of  enemies 


JAMES   FISK,  JR.  501 

— among  the  latter  none  more  bitter  than  a  little  fellow 
named  Tom  Nast,  oi  Harper  s  Weekly,  whose  inimitable  cari- 
catures have  made  the  world  as  familiar  with  the  face  as 
they  are  with  the  frauds  of  the  greatest  thief  of  the  period. 


EDWARD  S.  STOKES. 

The  assassin,  Edward  S.  Stokes,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
in  1841.  His  parents  were  people  of  the  highest  respecta- 
bility, and  possessed  of  ample  means.  They  were  very 
faithful  in  the  duty  of  educating  and  training  their  son,  and 
up  to  a  few  years  ago  had  no  reason  to  feel  ashamed  of  their 
offspring,  although  his  almost  ungovernable  temper  more 
than  once  gave  them  cause  to  tremble  for  his  future. 

Stokes,  after  having  passed  creditably  through  the  differ- 
ent grades  of  one  of  the  best  of  the  Quaker  City  public 
schools,  was  admitted  to  the  Philadelphia  High  School,  then 
under  the  principalship  of  Professor  John  S.  Hart.  Here 
the  boy  displayed  more  than  usual  aptness  in  his  studies, 
and  gave  very  general  satisfaction  to  his  teachers  in  the 
matter  of  deportment.  He  did  not  remain  long  enough  at 
the  High  School  to  graduate,  as,  in  1851,  his  parents  removed 
to  New  York,  where  his  father  established  himself  as  a  pro- 
vision merchant.  Young  Stokes  began  his  business  career 
as  his  father's  clerk,  and  while  thus  employed,  developed 
most  excellent  talent.  About  1863,  he  married  the  beautiful 
and  accomplished  daughter  of  Mr.  John  W.  Southwick, 
then  a  furniture  dealer,  but  now  a  retired  gentleman  of 
great  wealth,  residing  in  Fifth  Avenue.  Mrs.  Stokes  went 
to  Europe  for  her  health  in  the  spring  of  1871,  taking  with 
her  her  only  child,  a  lovely  little  girl  of  seven  or  eight  years. 

Stokes  became  acquainted  with  Fisk  some  time  in  1S69. 


502  LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF 

A  seemingl}'  strong  friendship  sprung  up  between  the  two 
men,  and  they  engaged  together  in  a  number  of  business 
enterprises  and  speculations,  in  all  of  which  Stokes  is  said 
to  have  secured  the  lion's  share  of  the  profits.  Their  last 
joint  business  enterprise  was  the  Brook4yn  Oil  Refinery,  the 
history  of  which  is  given  in  another  part  of  this  book. 

Stokes'  connection  with  Helen  Josephine  Mansfield  began 
shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  notorious  woman  in 
her  mansion  in  Twenty-third  street,  which  Fisk  had  provided 
for  her.  In  an  evil  hour  he  introduced  his  friend  "  Ned  "  to 
the  odalisque^  and  from  that  time  James  Fisk  was  a  doomed 
man. 

Stokes  is  now  the  occupant  of  a  cell  in  the  Tombs.  Sev- 
eral attempts  have  been  made  to  proceed  with  his  trial  for 
murder ;  but,  with  the  usual  trickery  of  counsel  on  either 
side — who  in  these  days  seem  to  think  that  the  law  was 
made  for  the  defence  of  the  guilty,  and  not  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  innocent — the  case  has  been  again  and  again 
postponed,  and  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  whether,  in  the 
event  of  a  bo7ia-fide  trial,  the  murderer  will  receive  punish- 
ment. His  counsel  have  played  a  bold  game,  but,  with  John 
Graham  at  their  head,  whose  resources  were  never  known 
to  fail,  there  is  little  question  that  the  next  move  will  be 
bolder  still.  It  is  said  tha.t  the  attempt  will  be  made  to 
prove  that  Stokes  killed  Fisk  in  self-defence. 


HELEN  JOSEPHINE   MANSFIELD. 

The  heroine  of  the  tragedy  that  sent  James  Fisk,  Jr.  into 

eternity  in  the  full  flush  of  vigorous  manhood,  is  a  woman  of 

about  25.     She  was  born    in  Boston,  and  has  had  a  very 

checkered  career.     When   she  was   sixteen  years   old,  her 


JAMES   FISK,   JR.  503 

mother,  a  widow,  Mansfield  by  name,  took  Helen  to  Califor- 
nia, where,  on  the  ist  of  September,  1864,  she  married  Frank 
Lavvlor,  from  whom  she  was  divorced  two  years  afterward. 
Her  own  story  as  given  before  Judge  Bixby  at  the  trial  which 
preceded  the  assassination  may  be  thus  epitomized : 

After  parting  finally  with  Lawlor,  whom  she  accompanied 
to  New  York,  she  went  to  Boston  to  secure  a  divorce.  She 
then  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  resided  there  for  a  short 
time,  at  13 12  Chestnut  street,  near  the  comer  of  13th.  It 
was  here,  as  she  says,  that  Lawlor  left  her  "  and  went  to  live 
with  another  lady."  She  next  went  to  New  York,  where, 
according  to  her  own  testimony,  she  must  have  hved  a  loose 
life  from  the  beginning.  She  first  met  Fisk  at  the  house  of  a 
notorious  woman  named  Annie  Wood,  then  residing  in  34th 
street.  Fisk  became  attached  to  her  and  secured  for  her  a 
splendid  suite  of  rooms  in  the  American  Club  House, 
where  she  dwelt  with  him  until  the  flight  of  the  Erie  Direc- 
tors to  Jersey  City,  she  occupying  rooms  with  him  at  Tay- 
lor's Hotel.  Next  with  Fisk  to  Boston,  making  a  stay  of  two 
weeks  ;  next  to  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  New  York;  and  then  to 
her  beautiful  residence  in  West  23d  street,  after  having  spent 
a  few  months  at  the  Sherman  House,  and  at  No.  18  West 
24th  street.  She  made  the  acquaintance  of  Stokes  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

Her  intimacy  with  Stokes  and  Fisk  since  that  time,  and 
its  results,  require  no  further  mention  here. 

An  incident  or  two  in  her  Western  life,  however,  deserve 
mention. 

Her  mother  married  a  man  named  Warren,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. One  D.  W.  Perley  began  to  pay  attention  to  Helen 
at  an  early  date,  and  was  warned  away  by  Warren,  who  on 
two  occasions  pointed  a  loaded  pistol  to  his  head,  and  forced 


504  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

him  to  take  to  his  heels — once  with  very  Httle  clothing  upon 
him.  A  few  months  after  this  Helen  met  Frank  Lawlor, 
and  asked  him  to  protect  her  against  Warren,  who  was  try- 
ing to  ruin  her  character.  Lawlor  is  said  to  have  replied 
that  it  would  not  be  proper  for  him  to  assume  the  position 
of  her  protector,  unless  she  were  his  wife,  whereupon  she 
proposed  that  he  should  marry  her.  This  he  did  without 
hesitation,  as  he  had  been  infatuated  with  her  at  first  sight. 

Not  long  afterward  he  had  reason  to  suspect  that  his  wife 
was  not  a  chaste  woman.  He  warned  her  not  to  deceive 
him,  and  she  promised.  A  few  months  elapsed,  and  his  sus- 
picions were  realized.  He  then  sent  her  away  from  him, 
but  provided  liberally  for  her  on  receiving  her  pledge  that 
she  would  not  throw  herself  away.  On  discovering  that 
she  had  forfeited  her  pledge,  he  withheld  his  bounty,  and 
there  has  been  no  communication  between  the  two  since 
that  time. 

Helen  Mansfield  is  of  full,  dashing  figure,  not  at  all  gross. 
Her  e)'-es  are  large,  deep  and  bright,  and  inclined  to  Chinese 
in  type.  Her  purple  black  hair,  worn  in  massive  coils  over 
a  well-shaped  head  is  a  wonder  in  its  luxuriance  and  native 
gloss  ;  and  her  well-cut  Hps,  full  but  not  large,  her  magnifi- 
cent teeth,  her  clear  pearl  complexion  suffused  at  times  with 
a  soft  pink  flush — make  her  altogether  just  such  a  creature 
as  would  soonest  captivate  and  enchain  an  impulsive,  sensual, 
and  affectionate  nature  like  Fisk's.  Her  voice  is  very  soft 
and  sweet,  but  her  smile  that  of  a  woman  who  grants  it  only 
after  measuring  its  width  and  depth,  and  calculating  its  re- 
sults to  a  nicety  before  bestowing  it.  Perhaps  a  colder  dis- 
grace to  her  sex  has  never  helped  to  ruin  man  since  the 
world  began. 


i;E.Moli<E. 


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